Technology, the cloud and Artificial Intelligence, among others, are technologies that can help companies quickly address changes and overcome crisis stages. But sometimes there is reluctance to move forward and modernize systems in companies. This happens, for example, in the case of public cloud, whose adoption is progressing at a slower level than expected. We have talked about this and other topics, such as Oracle Alloy or Oracle’s future sovereign cloud in Europe, with Albert Triola, Country Leader of Spain and Senior Vice President Support Renewal Sales EMEA of Oracle.
[MCPRO] How can technology and especially the cloud and artificial intelligence help companies deal with so many changes and crises in recent years?
[Albert Triola] Oracle has shown that technology is an enabler for companies, and I believe that the limit is no longer the technology, but rather the capabilities that companies may have to use that technology. We have examples of what can be done, such as Formula 1. Oracle has also shown what technology can do, as Larry Ellison explained at Oracle CloudWord, in the healthcare environment.
I think that technology with the capacity for growth, bandwidth capacity, computing infrastructure, growth, integration elasticity, means that this is not the problem. That it is the companies that have to discover the possibilities that technology can offer them. For example, that you make a migration to the world of the cloud and that a provider like Oracle, without you having to spend money on new versions or consulting resources, update you to new versions every 90 days. This means that you can be much more agile when it comes to managing your business. Companies have to start discovering, and we have to help them to do it in Spain, the possibilities that technology has today.
[MCPRO] What barriers can there be for companies to decide to update and modernize their technology to take advantage of its possibilities?
[Albert Triola] I understand that there can be pressures for companies when they want to update their technology. Pressures for changing the way of working, and what it means to adapt. But as I have said on occasion, innovation is nothing more than the pension plan for companies and the public administration. If you don’t innovate, you have a problem. I believe that new technology makes it easier for companies to innovate quickly and adapt to the situation, which is difficult.
There are things that I do not understand. For example, as I was talking to a client, let him have more database administrators than Oracle to manage 40 cloud regions. The technology that Oracle uses, which for example allows us to deploy dedicated regions, or integration with other clouds from other providers, means that the time of Oracle engineers or customers is dedicated to tasks with greater added value for their business.
That is why we say that our cloud is second generation. Because it exists and it is possible only because we use artificial intelligence and machine learning for its management, which allows us to scale quickly and allows customers to focus on their added value. ANDe are talking about a fundamental paradigm shift that will require companies to gradually adapt to these models.
[MCPRO] Public cloud adoption is not progressing as fast as many thought. Its penetration has risen in about 15 years by around 32%, compared to 91% achieved by smartphones. What do you think this is due to? And what steps can be taken to make it go further?
[Albert Triola] In general, cloud providers tend to propose that what you have on premises you move everything to the cloud, and that’s it. I mean, whatever you want to go through, but without intermediates or gray areas. We, with our model, understand that due to certain circumstances you want to maintain certain infrastructure in your home, locally. That variety in terms of the portfolio that allows you to have the data on your premises, in the public cloud or consider the option of sovereign clouds, among other options, what it does, in theory, is help customers see it easier to decide which model they want at any time.
The management will be the same, and the licenses will be the same. You are going to decide how you facilitate it, because we cannot pretend to tell a client that his option is “everything to the cloud”. We understand that this is not a good path, and that we must help companies take that first leap. They have to see the added value and how to help their employees to grow in their profiles. In the end, in companies we have employees who do tasks that are qualified in The World of the cloud.
This means that you, as a company, will have to help your employees develop and grow in order to be able to do much more value-added tasks for your business. We therefore have a combination of technological transition and another of the company to adapt to the benefit that the change brings. In our case, we have seen how large companies such as Telefónica, Naturgy or Mapfre; but also small companies, and the administration, start to do things the moment they try the cloud. They discover that there are possibilities behind it, which will allow them to dedicate economic and human resources to other tasks.
Today the technology is already working, it is proven. It is scalable, interoperable with other cloud clouds with different versions depending on your needs. You can have your data locally, in sovereign cloud regions, wherever you decide. Because as we’ve heard at CloudWorld, going to the cloud can be risky, but not going is dangerous.
[MCPRO] One of the star themes of Oracle’s news at CloudWorld has been Oracle Alloy, can it be an ingredient to facilitate the adoption of the cloud in companies? What can it contribute to companies that want to offer more at the cloud level to their customers?
[Albert Triola] Now we have the cloud provider and the user. What we’ve brought in with Alloy is putting a piece in the middle where large integrators, or partners, can offer a cloud service management function from the clients they work with. With this, logically, integrators find a place in the world of the cloud. But a gap in added value for their companies. I think that this helps companies, integrators, and the plans we work with can also develop services with a multi-cloud environment in mind. So that the applications that are developed, for example, in MongoDB, can go directly to the Oracle cloud.
I think we are seeing the Internet of Clouds: that you are not too closed in on one and that you can get the most out of each one depending on what it can contribute to you. We can provide automated management, elimination of tasks and possible errors in management. We are talking about more efficiency, growth, scalability, data security and integration with other clouds. Because we have to assume that all clients are going to have more than one cloud depending on their needs, because each one is good at its task.
I think that should help speed up the adoption of the technology. In addition, what companies save in time and money can be invested in something that makes them more competitive, closer to their customers and getting to know them better in order to give them what they need.
[MCPRO] A few weeks ago they announced plans to launch a sovereign cloud in the European Union, with headquarters in Germany and Spain. Can you give us a few more details about timelines or plans?
[Albert Triola] We haven’t put much emphasis on it yet, but the reality is that the European Union has a series of restrictions. Our cloud proposal involves having two sovereign cloud points, one will be Germany and the other Spain. We have not yet decided where, how or with whom. We are still in the decision phase. Because for that to be able to operate, those that are going to operate it will be a company. Union, created by Oracle, with employees who are citizens of the European Union.
Now we are in the phase of understanding, from the point of view of legislation and others, what conditions have to be fulfilled. The good news we have is that at Oracle, the time from when we announce something to when we go live is very short. This is what has happened with the Oracle cloud region in Spain.
Oracle’s ability to generate cloud regions is very agile and very fast. Because we also adapt to the existing infrastructure and because it allows us to be close to where customers are in a very agile way. For this reason, when we are clear about the conditions of the companies and the employees that are going to operate, it will take us very little to get it up and running. There are no release or opening dates yet.
But as we have spoken with the Government, it is good news for Europe and for Spain that Oracle has decided to continue investing in Spain. From the cloud region that we recently opened, the hub that we have in Malaga with more than 600 employees, and the Netsuite R&D center that we have in Barcelona; until now, a sovereign cloud region. This demonstrates the credibility that we have as a country and the quality that we have, with Oracle Spain as a subsidiary. That Oracle continues to invest in a country like Spain is good news, because that will logically generate more benefits for the country.
