Oracle Hosting For Enterprise Systems And Databases

By Elvin Pedrick


Oracle hosting is a hot ticket item these days as more and more organizations opt for enterprise systems even if they lack the requisite in-house capabilities and resources. That's because hosted programs, including databases and applications, can be deployed using a managed server or cloud-based service. Nothing is off the table, from the company's flagship e-Business Suite (EBS) to their CRM and even the new Fusion applications.

No doubt anyone interested in Oracle hosting will be aware of the complex task of data migration and moving ERP systems. It's hardly possible to use this limited space to delve into the nuts and bolts of each system and detail the migration process for each one. What can be done is to understand the precise benefits of moving programs to a remote host.

But let's start with something simpler, such as managed hosting for a database. Providing connectivity to a database which contains a company's proprietary data needs a data center that's more secure than Fort Knox, which is nothing unusual for a web host. But in this case, the host also needs to have a top-notch DBA on hand at all times to help clients and keep a handle on things.

Opting for a database on a shared or dedicated server managed by a remote host no doubt makes it cost-effective. More importantly, the host will offer a level of performance that is almost impossible for most companies to replicate in-house. Apart from the standard 11g database, the host may be using fail-safe systems such as Real Application Clusters (RAC) which deploy a single database across a cluster of servers in order to render it immune to hardware failure.

Moving an enterprise system such as EBS to a remote host is relatively more complex. All companies, from small and medium scale to enterprise level corporate giants, will necessarily have to think long and hard before making this decision. It's the provider's call at this point, to come up with a suitable customized solution that perfectly matches the client's needs and provides huge savings.

Even so, a few commonalities must be considered by all clients. For starters, the provider's data center has to be SSAE16 or SAS 70 certified so that the hosted data and applications are compliant under the standards required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. On top of this, Oracle has a set of regulations to be followed by the hosts who provide program access and data processing services to clients.

No doubt it's a complex process, but once the hosted applications are made available online to users, the returns are big. It eliminates the local IT setup and the huge staffing needs for an all-encompassing ERP system. The maintenance, security, connectivity and most of the managed server administration and database administration become the responsibility of the host, which allows the client to focus on growing their core business and not worry about IT upgrades and capacity.

Oracle hosting is the hi-tech tip of a highly technical sector, and hosts capable of providing this service cannot be picked randomly from a list or web search. They need to fulfill a long list of conditions first, including having a certified data center and an official tie-up with Oracle. They need to have crack APEX development professionals and DBAs on their squad to help clients. Most important of all, they must have a reference list of satisfied hosted Oracle program users.




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