A wide variety of citizen-facing applications and UK public sector back office systems are based on Oracle’s database technology. Traditionally these systems require dedicated hardware which not only involves initial capital investment but also poses a challenge in terms of flexibility and capacity management – if more capacity is required, so is more hardware which takes time and resource to put in place. The very specific hardware and licencing requirements associated with Oracle solutions also make it difficult for public sector organisations to change hosting suppliers or deploy a diverse solution hosted across two platforms. Skyscape’s new Oracle platform provides a solution to these problems. Its customers can host their Oracle-based services with Skyscape and therefore realise the benefits of true cloud hosting – increased agility and consumption-based pricing as well as significantly reduced costs as the need for investment in hardware is removed. All whilst complying with Oracle’s licencing requirements. “Our new Oracle Platform, which is built on OVM technology has been specifically designed with our commitment to the public sector in mind,” said Simon Hansford, CEO of Skyscape Cloud Services. “Our platform is used to deliver many critical services to citizens so it’s imperative that we continue to adapt to the evolving requirements of our public sector customers. This new platform will respond to these demands from customers using Oracle technologies, helping us to continue to support the public sector in the digital transformation of public services, ultimately benefiting UK citizens and tax payers.”
Matt Howell, Head of Public Sector at Capgemini said “We applaud the launch of Skyscape’s Oracle platform. While we have Oracle loads on the Skyscape platform, we observe a lag in cloud adoption amongst our public sector customers due to the lack of an assured platform designed specifically to meet the needs of Oracle applications. As Skyscape’s new platform complies with Oracle licencing it will enable those customers to migrate services to the cloud quicker and with less risk.”
The new Skyscape Oracle platform offers the same unique assurance, sovereignty and connectivity capabilities offered by Skyscape’s other platforms, all within an environment that is specifically optimised for Oracle workloads. Use of the Skyscape Oracle platform can enable organisations to prolong the lifecycle of existing applications by removing the reliance on legacy hardware. More importantly it can support further innovation across the public sector as it can be used to support projects that require high levels of security and assurance, combined with flexibility and scalability. Projects that can be up and running far quicker as test and development as well as production environments can be quickly established without the need to procure hardware.
“We’re really excited about the development of Skyscape’s Oracle based platform” said Vikram Setia, Partner and Chief Commercial Officer at Infomentum. “As an Oracle platinum partner, we understand the complexities of successfully delivering Oracle solutions in the cloud – especially for customers who have specific requirements around data management and location. Skyscape’s new Oracle based platform, and its sole focus on the requirements of the UK public sector, is great news for those looking to utilise a proven UK based cloud service provider to host their Oracle workloads.”
Additional benefits of Skyscape’s Oracle platform include:
- Compatibility with a wide variety of Oracle technologies such as, but not exclusive to: Oracle Database, WebLogic, Fusion Applications, E-Business Suite and more
- Service Level Agreements that are sensitive to the requirements of Oracle applications
- Advanced Cross Domain Security Zone — a secure managed or self-managed area that enables citizen access over the internet to data which is securely hosted on the elevated domain
- Broad networking – connect via the internet (with DDoS protection provided as standard); via Government community networks (PSN Assured service, PSN Protected service, N3, Janet, RLI; or legacy networks including PNN) or via HybridConnect
