Consultant at a comms service provider with 10,001+ employees
Consultant
We can optimize the database for authorizing expenditure and other resource-heavy functions
Pros and Cons
  • "The database performance. We can optimise the database for authorising expenditure and other resource-heavy functions."
  • "They could improve the storage and network overhead."

What is our primary use case?

We use this on-premise and cloud technology for our client databases.

How has it helped my organization?

Oracle thinks about the global customer, but the technology is only part of the solution.

What is most valuable?

The database performance. We can optimize the database for authorizing expenditure and other resource-heavy functions.

What needs improvement?

They could improve the storage and network overhead. They could minimize the storage to improve performance further. You have to optimize the resources according to your project.

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For how long have I used the solution?

We have been using the Oracle Database for a few years. I am the Customer Service Manager. Claro Colombia is the first telecommunications company in Colombia and a subsidiary of an American company based in Mexico. It's considered to be the third-largest company in South America outside China.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Oracle Database is stable and reliable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Oracle Database is scalable and can be used with various sizes of projects.

How was the initial setup?

We have to plan to simplify the setup, as it includes integration. The traditional infrastructure needs to adapt to the new technology, and Oracle introduces extra data into the mix. You have to establish if the project is small, large, or medium. This means the system is designed for the size of the customer or project.

What about the implementation team?

We used integrators and consultants, including internal resources and external consulting. We used our internal install team with external consulting assistance.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I would rate the Oracle Database an eight out of 10 as a solution.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

On-premises
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Product manager at Metrodata Electronics Tbk PT
Real User
Competitive pricing, stable, and scalable
Pros and Cons
  • "The pricing is very competitive. Oracle is still the number one database company. From the technical aspects, Oracle Database is the best solution for small, medium, and big industries."
  • "I'm in Indonesia. From what I know, Ali Cloud has already built a center in Indonesia, and Google also has a data center in Indonesia. I have heard that Amazon will also build a data center in Indonesia, and the same will be with Azure if they deal with the Indonesian government. I'm quite appreciative of what Amazon has done by deciding to have a local data center. I expect Oracle to do the same, but Oracle doesn't seem to have plans to build a data center in Indonesia. This is something that needs to be improved. Oracle should follow all the other cloud providers who see a potential market in Indonesia. It would be better for Oracle to be equal to other cloud providers and have a data center in Indonesia so they can compete. Having a local data center means that they can avoid performance issues, the latency of the network, and all the things that are related to the network for internet-based solutions. Customers in Indonesia expect a local data center."

What is our primary use case?

I have been using as well as selling Oracle Database from version 8 till version 19C. We have on-premises and cloud deployments.

I am working on cloud-based solutions. We are introducing Oracle Cloud infrastructure to our internal sales teams to show that Oracle has an Oracle Cloud as well, and it is called Oracle Cloud Infrastructure.

What is most valuable?

The pricing is very competitive. Oracle is still the number one database company. From the technical aspects, Oracle Database is the best solution for small, medium, and big industries. 

What needs improvement?

I'm in Indonesia. From what I know, Ali Cloud has already built a center in Indonesia, and Google also has a data center in Indonesia. I have heard that Amazon will also build a data center in Indonesia, and the same will be with Azure if they deal with the Indonesian government. I'm quite appreciative of what Amazon has done by deciding to have a local data center. I expect Oracle to do the same, but Oracle doesn't seem to have plans to build a data center in Indonesia. This is something that needs to be improved. 

Oracle should follow all the other cloud providers who see a potential market in Indonesia. It would be better for Oracle to be equal to other cloud providers and have a data center in Indonesia so they can compete. Having a local data center means that they can avoid performance issues, the latency of the network, and all the things that are related to the network for internet-based solutions. Customers in Indonesia expect a local data center.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Oracle Database for almost ten years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is stable and scalable. Stability and scalability are our prerequisites for all cloud solutions. A solution must be stable and scalable to be used. Oracle has already covered that part.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is scalable. Many customers of ours are using Oracle Database as their database infrastructure. Our customers are from all industries, such as communication, manufacturing, distribution, retail, etc. We plan to keep selling this solution.

How are customer service and technical support?

We have our own technical support to help customers to implement or maintain Oracle solutions.

How was the initial setup?

The deployment and activation process is similar to other cloud providers. The cloud deployment takes around 45 hours because you need to activate the services after Oracle provisions the services. After a customer orders for the cloud, Oracle provisions the services. The service is ready maybe in a week. Oracle sends us an email to activate the services.

What about the implementation team?

We have consultants to deploy Oracle Cloud Infrastructure and Oracle solutions in our company. We have around 20 engineers who are Oracle Certified or Oracle Database Professionals. 

We provide services for implementation as well as for after-sales and maintenance if customers take our technical support. We have enough technical support to help customers to implement or maintain Oracle solutions.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its price is already low. Oracle has a competitive and cheaper price as compared to others. Oracle Cloud is cheaper than other clouds. The pricing is very competitive for Oracle Cloud to be in the market. Their pricing makes customers interested in using this product even though Oracle doesn't have a local data center at this moment.

What other advice do I have?

It is the cloud era, so everyone is talking about cloud solutions. Oracle must improve its solution to be equal to other cloud providers. Oracle Cloud still has a data center out of Indonesia as compared to other competitors who already have a local data center in Indonesia. A provider with a local data center will be the best if you are using an internet-based product or a cloud-based solution. 

Customers will prefer a solution that has a local data center because it eliminates the problems related to the network and performance. If Oracle has a local data center, the only thing that a customer will have to consider is the pricing. Oracle already has cheaper pricing than others, but cheaper pricing is not enough for a cloud solution at this point. Customers also expect good performance when they are accessing the cloud.

I would rate Oracle Database a nine out of ten. I cannot give it a ten because there is no perfect product.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Reseller
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April 2024
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Senior DBA & IT Consultant at MA Consulting
Real User
Enables us to combine all the sophisticated architectures in the market
Pros and Cons
  • "Compared to other databases, Oracle Database is very simple to manage in terms of the database itself."

    What is our primary use case?

    We’re using Oracle Database at our customers and for any vast applications, for data warehouses, online transaction processing applications, with packaged applications like Siebel and SAP that work with Oracle. Oracle is the main enterprise database for the finance sector today, in general.

    How has it helped my organization?

    It fits any kind of model that we would like to incorporate in our organization, whether it's a data warehouse, implementing data models, CRMs, or online application processing. We can use clusters, we have very sophisticated, high-availability solutions. We have everything.

    We generally incorporate all the solutions in an enterprise so that we can help the enterprise to have a better, high-availability solution, faster databases. 

    And, compared to other databases, Oracle Database is very simple to manage in terms of the database itself.

    What is most valuable?

    Oracle is one of the most advanced systems when compared with other databases in the market. Oracle has the ability to combine all the sophisticated architectures that we have today in the market and bring them to the customer.

    One more nice thing that Oracle is bringing in is cloud on premises. This allows you to have a big Exadata machine in your enterprise and use it as a cloud, using all the available Oracle features, which is very nice. It gives you the ability to begin according to your needs and grow very fast when you need to do so.

    What needs improvement?

    Oracle is going now to what we call autonomous databases. Personally, I don’t believe in autonomous databases that will manage themselves. It might be that in the cloud versions they actually have the ability of doing that for you, managing the infrastructure, fixing all the patches that you need, and so on. Still, the tuning business has a long way to go to be completely autonomous. There is still a need for a person to manage the database, especially the performance and tuning. 

    It might be those future databases - not in the near future but in the distant future - will be autonomous completely. Oracle could be one of the first to incorporate that.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    More than five years.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    Oracle has new versions, and with them it becomes more stable. Compared to other databases, especially when dealing with vast numbers of records, Oracle is one of the leading databases; it performs much better.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Scalability is one of the biggest features of Oracle Database. We can scale out or scale in using clusters, using the shard solutions that we have in the market today. Oracle brings a large number of methods for scaling.

    How are customer service and technical support?

    Support is one of the most advanced. I work with other vendors besides Oracle. If I compare the support that we have with Oracle to other leading providers -  I don’t want to say the names - Oracle usually gives me answers quickly. With other vendors, I can wait for ages until I get answers, if I can get a solution at all. Oracle has a vast knowledge of problems and solutions.

    For 80 percent of problems, you can find already built-in solutions. But if such a solution doesn't exist, Oracle support is prompt. They come in and discuss the problems with you and try to figure out very fastest solutions.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    We didn’t switch. Oracle has always been a leader in the field of relational databases. Today, in Israel especially, all the finest companies have their major databases in Oracle, in spite of the licensing, because it is one of the best databases in the market. The big companies can still afford the licenses.

    How was the initial setup?

    Setup has become easier and easier with Oracle. It used to be a bit complicated in the beginning, but with the new versions, while you still need a bit of knowledge, it’s quite doable to install it and manage it.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The main issue where I feel that Oracle still has a problem is with the licensing. Licensing is still expensive and the reason why today most startups use other, cheaper databases. Those other databases are much less sophisticated than Oracle. I hope that in the future, Oracle will reach a level where it can introduce its database with different compliances and different licenses so that companies will be able to use to it and it will be competitive with other databases in the market.

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?


    What other advice do I have?

    When selecting a vendor, the most important thing is that they have people who know the business. We have some databases, for example, for which it is very rare to find a person who knows something about them. Knowledge is important. Support of the product is very, important as well. We need to know where to go, who to ask, who will actually help us out with the problems. Of course, bringing new innovations and being out front with what is happening in the advancing of the technology are also important.

    My advice, especially for big companies today, would be to go to the cloud on-premises when starting out, which allows you to incorporate all the latest versions from Oracle yet have the infrastructure managed by the Oracle Cloud support team. It gives you the ability to utilize the best of Oracle and to scale when you need to. 

    For smaller companies, the main reason they are not going with Oracle today is the pricing/licensing. I hope that, in the future, Oracle will do something about that so we'll once again see small companies beginning with Oracle, something that we don’t see today.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    IT Project Manager at Nong San Sach online
    Real User
    Top 10
    Has recovery options but pricing is expensive
    Pros and Cons
    • "If we make a mistake on the development side, we can recover it. However, we don't have this capability with other databases."
    • "Oracle Database is expensive."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use Oracle Database for our Internet ERP. This ERP system encompasses various modules such as HCM, purchasing, inventory management, sales order management, production, finance, and controlling.

    What is most valuable?

    If we make a mistake on the development side, we can recover it. However, we don't have this capability with other databases.

    What needs improvement?

    Oracle Database is expensive. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using the product for seven years. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    Our scalability relies heavily on our deep understanding of data relations. By leveraging this knowledge and adapting it to the Oracle Database, we can align our business processes with our requirements. My company has four users. 

    How was the initial setup?

    The tool's deployment is not complicated and takes 20 minutes to one hour to complete. It maintenance is not hard and requires only one to two resources. 

    What other advice do I have?

    The tool is complex; we can use SQL language to accomplish tasks, similar to other solutions. Most Oracle developers and users are familiar with SQL, so it's not challenging. I rate the product an eight out of ten. The rating of eight instead of ten is because we have a lot of management solutions in place now that are not solely dependent on the database structure.

    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    SS36 - PeerSpot reviewer
    Software Architeture at Enformatik Yazılım Bilgi Teknolojileri Mühendislik Ltd.
    Real User
    Top 10
    The solution provides high availability, but it should enable users to administer the database easily
    Pros and Cons
    • "The product provides high availability."
    • "The product must provide an autonomous database."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is used for accessing and restoring data.

    What is most valuable?

    The product provides high availability. I can easily use the product because I have 20 to 25 years of database experience.

    What needs improvement?

    The product must provide an autonomous database. It should enable users to administer the database easily like other open-source databases. Oracle RAC must be improved.

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I am using the solution currently.

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The tool is stable. I rate the stability an eight out of ten.

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    I rate the tool’s scalability a five out of ten. We need too many servers. Our customers use the product, and we support them. Our customers have about 100 users, including developers and managers. We are planning to increase the number of users.

    Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

    I used primitive tools before.

    How was the initial setup?

    We need four people to deploy the product.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    I rate the pricing a five out of ten.

    What other advice do I have?

    We are solution partners. Oracle Database is an enterprise solution with high availability. It's for professionals. Overall, I rate the product a seven out of ten.

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Public Cloud
    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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    Oracle Applications Consultant at ASAM Conseil Inc
    Real User
    Top 20
    The autonomous database simplifies patching making this a strong product
    Pros and Cons
    • "The autonomous database simplifies everything."
    • "Once you start with Oracle you become locked into it."

    What is our primary use case?

    My primary use case is in a university environment.

    What is most valuable?

    It's the autonomous database that makes this a valuable product, it's a big feature that Oracle brings to the market. Autonomous patching means that the database more or less patches itself without the need to ask DBAs to apply and test patches. It simplifies the maintenance so this is a strong and autonomous database. They're constantly bringing new features that satisfy their clients. It's a great solution.  

    What needs improvement?

    The main issue is that people don't want to be locked into Oracle, and once all the data is in there, it's difficult to switch to Amazon AWS or something else. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've used this solution for many years. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable, it's been around for a long time and there's not much for clients to complain about. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    The solution is scalable.

    How are customer service and support?

    They offer a lot of support these days, including a kind of Oracle cloud management service. You can also buy some database administrators from Oracle. You just have to tell them what you need and they can patch it automatically and monitor the database for you. 

    How was the initial setup?

    This solution is straightforward. It's good on the database side but I think SAP is taking over now. It's moving faster than Oracle. Even when it comes to the application side, people go to SAP and will sometimes move from Oracle to SAP. I've noticed that a lot in the last five years.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Costs can add up when you use Oracle because they monitor everything and there's a fee for that.

    What other advice do I have?

    We're now moving to no-code, the BI application. When you buy Oracle Database, it comes as a free tool and you can build anything you want in-house with Apex. You can bring in some developers and develop the application in-house. The solution is PaaS, Platform as a Service, but you can connect with the database and build what you want. Even functional people who don't know how to code, how to do SQL, are able to just drag and drop, building their application to manage and solve anything.

    I rate the solution nine out of 10. 

    Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Implementer
    PeerSpot user
    Deputy General Manager at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    Offers high availability and good third-party integrations, but is very expensive
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is stable."
    • "Technical support quality has dropped recently. They aren't as helpful or responsive as they used to be."

    What is our primary use case?

    The solution is primarily used for any persistent storage of data. It's a database and Oracle is very strong on the relational database side. It's great for NoSQL. Oracle Database is a strong relational database management system.

    What is most valuable?

    The solution integrates well with third-party products. 

    The high availability that it provides is definitely one of a kind. It's active-active and high availability.

    The solution is stable.

    The scalability is good.

    They have worked to make the initial setup a bit easier. 

    What needs improvement?

    They have improved a lot, however, recently it has been known that Oracle Database is very complex to manage. You need skilled people to manage it these days in the industry. The databases, which are very prevalent, are very developer-friendly, and most of the tasks are automated. You don't need to have a specialized DBA to look at the database stuff. That said, the ease of management for non-technical individuals could be better. 

    Technical support quality has dropped recently. They aren't as helpful or responsive as they used to be. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I've been dealing with the solution for more than 15 years at this point. It's been a while. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is very stable. It has good high availability and is very reliable. there are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. 

    What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

    We have found the product to be scalable. If a company needs to expand it, it can do so. It's not a problem. 

    How are customer service and support?

    Recently, I haven't had any experience with Oracle's tech support. However, I have heard it has gone down in quality. It's harder to get in touch with them. The support requests take a lot of time to resolve. On top of that, the kind of expertise or knowledge that someone would expect from the team is a little bit of concern now. They aren't as knowledgeable as they used to be.

    How was the initial setup?

    While the solution used to be quite complex and difficult, now they have improved it. It's easier. That said, I can say it is still on the complex side.

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    Generally, when you buy Oracle Database, and if you're buying it for your own data center on the on-prem side, you have to go by the processor cores and the list price is around $47,500 for the enterprise edition per core.

    It is a perpetual license; it is not something that you worry about on monthly basis. That said, they do have options now for the subscription-based model, however, there are more data points to be looked at. They have an offering called the data cloud and customer which is a subscription-based model. They can give you hardware plus some software licenses as well.

    When it comes to Oracle and all the licensing policy that they have is very complex, the type of audits that they do is not really something that people welcome. 

    What other advice do I have?

    We are a customer and an end-user.

    In terms of deployments, you have an option to host it purely on-prem and you can arrange it to have some workloads on the cloud as well, as a hybrid approach. It is as if you are posting your databases on a private cloud in your own data center that way.

    Normally, if someone has to look at different database options available, they would prefer an open-source product. They would go with Oracle if the application they want to host is not supporting any other database but Oracle. If a company has to go with Oracle, it is best to look into the possibility of hosting it on some cloud rather than on-prem.

    I'd rate the solution at a seven out of ten. As a solution, it is not bad. The technology is great. It provides you with the features that you need. It is just that the cost and then the type of lock-in contract that you get into is not very attractive. As a product, from features and functionality alone, I would rate it a nine out of ten. However, when it comes to cost and other things, I'd rate it lower as there are open-source database options that are very good. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    Hybrid Cloud
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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    System Architect at a computer software company with 10,001+ employees
    Real User
    A stable solution which performs well and is suitable for enterprise applications
    Pros and Cons
    • "The solution is stable and has good performance."
    • "The licensing could be cheaper and clearer."

    What is our primary use case?

    We use version 12c, but are planning to migrate to 19c. 

    The solution is suitable for enterprise applications. We use it for trade systems and a betting system. We use it with applications that need a huge amount of data, such as SQL enterprise applications.

    What needs improvement?

    The licensing could be cheaper and clearer. It is not clear how it applies to certain options. The licensing of the solution for only several virtual servers is a big issue which should be addressed. 

    For how long have I used the solution?

    I have been using Oracle Database for many years, perhaps since 2001. 

    What do I think about the stability of the solution?

    The solution is stable. 

    How are customer service and support?

    I have not had direct contact with tech support, although my colleagues have. 

    How was the initial setup?

    I cannot comment on the initial installation, as it is handled by the Database Administrator, not I. He possesses the skill to install the solution and has never mentioned any issues with this. Perhaps my colleagues would be in a position to give a more comprehensive answer. 

    What about the implementation team?

    In respect of the deployment and maintenance, we have two administrators, developers, an architect and a tester who are in charge of four applications. 

    What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

    The licensing could be cheaper and clearer. It is not clear how it applies to certain options. The licensing of the solution for only several virtual servers is a big issue which should be addressed. 

    The license is yearly. 

    Which other solutions did I evaluate?

    Although I would recommend the solution for certain applications, as there are licensing issues, I would prefer to use PostgreSQL where possible. 

    What other advice do I have?

    There are many people making use of the solution in my organization, including developers, testers, end users and end application users. We may be talking about thousands. But when it comes to those with personal experience using the solution, we are talking about 40 or 50 people. 

    We plan to continue using the solution, as there are certain applications of ours which must remain on Oracle Database. 

    The solution is stable and has good performance. Licensing is the big issue we encounter. 

    Were I to rate Oracle Database strictly on its technical capabilities, I would have to give it a rating of nine out ten. However, its licensing issues bring this rating down to seven. 

    Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

    On-premises
    Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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