This blog post is the second in a series of blog posts in which we focus on multiple facets of migrating PeopleSoft to the Cloud. We take a look from various angles like technology, compliancy, approach and the value for your business. Today we take a look at running PeopleSoft on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI).
The Cloud is ready for PeopleSoft. Learn if you are ready for the Cloud.
Run PeopleSoft from the Cloud
When speaking of bringing PeopleSoft to the Cloud, our default advice is to go to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (or OCI in short) unless there are good reasons to make another choice. The reason for this is that on OCI:
- You have the advantage of being able to use the PeopleSoft Cloud Manager. We discussed those advantages in more detail in our earlier blog post.
- The costs of running PeopleSoft on OCI are generally lower than Azure or AWS. Even if you don’t consider the advantages (saved time; thus costs) from using PeopleSoft Cloud Manager.
- PeopleSoft runs more stable and with better performance on OCI. With a full Oracle stack; all components, from software till hardware, are optimised for each other.
The “unless” part comes into play when customers have specifics in or around their PeopleSoft environment that complicates the usage of, or the migration to, OCI. One of such reasons could be that they are running their current PeopleSoft environment on a Microsoft SQL Server database. Although SQL Server runs smoothly on OCI the advantages of PeopleSoft Cloud Manager can only be reached by migrating the database from SQL Server to Oracle Database. Depending on the level of customisation this could mean that you are headed towards a costly migration that may have an important impact on your business case. However, generally speaking, those extra migration costs are consumed within 3 to 5 years after go-live after which also in such cases PeopleSoft runs at a lower cost on OCI. Thus, depending on your own roadmap and planning horizon, you might be better off in Azure or AWS when it’s only for a few years.
Another “unless” could lie in the level and complexity of integration with other applications or systems. When those integrations are costly to change it also affects your business case. And then the advantages of running PeopleSoft on OCI may not be worth the effort that is needed to reach them.
Unique advantages of running PeopleSoft on OCI
Running PeopleSoft from OCI brings some unique advantages on the table which you won’t get when you run PeopleSoft from another hyperscaler (large cloud service provider). The foremost advantage you will only get on OCI is the ability to use PeopleSoft Cloud Manager. PeopleSoft Cloud Manager comes at no additional license charge and helps you to reduce time and effort with many PeopleSoft admin activities; like the life cycle management of your PeopleSoft application. For all advantages of using PeopleSoft Cloud Manager checkout our earlier blog post dedicated to PeopleSoft Cloud Manager.
OCI is also the only hyperscaler where you are able to use a Database as a Service (DBaaS) offering to run your PeopleSoft database. The PeopleTools component of your PeopleSoft application only supports DBaaS on OCI and Oracle’s DBaaS services are the only ones that are certified and supported to be used in combination with PeopleTools. Using DBaaS saves you the work from deploying and managing the underlying infrastructure to run the PeopleSoft database.
Autonomous operations are another advantage of OCI. Only on OCI you have the ability to use Oracle’s Autonomous Database and Autonomous Linux in combination with PeopleSoft. Autonomous Database uses machine learning for automated tuning, scaling, and patching of the database. While systems running Autonomous Linux are patched automatically with zero downtime. Both reduce the effort you have to put on administrative activities and increase the security and compliance of your systems.
Compared to other hyperscalers, who work solely with t-shirt size resources, on OCI you can choose the most optimal resources for running your PeopleSoft application; and by so gain the most optimal performance/cost-ratio. On OCI, with its Flex Shapes, there are no fixed t-shirt sizes for the resources you need. You flexibly can set the right amount of CPU and memory you need to run your servers. And this works in favour of the PeopleSoft environments which we want to run. With a PeopleSoft environment we have multiple servers (or nodes) running with quite different needs in terms of resources. Think of the application server which its demand on CPU power for all the processing it needs to perform. The webserver that needs its memory to keep track of all user sessions. Or the Elastic Stack or OpenSearch nodes that both benefit from storing data in-memory and being able to do lots of data processing.
And if you like the option from PeopleSoft Cloud Manager to clone (demo) entire PeopleSoft environments within 10-20 minutes and wondered how it could be that fast almost independent of the size of your PeopleSoft database? Well, that’s the Block Volume cloning service from OCI at work behind the scenes. The clone operation occurs immediately and within seconds the cloned volume its available for use.
When looking at costs; OCI also has some advantages over the other hyperscalers. If you run your PeopleSoft application on a Oracle Database, like most PeopleSoft customers do, then your Oracle Database will run at much lower costs on OCI as with another hyperscaler. And if you are using multiple cloud regions to serve your business needs you might like the single pricing for all OCI regions around the world. Also it won’t matter if you go for OCI’s general Public Cloud offering or the EU Sovereign Cloud; you just pay the same.
There’s more in the world than OCI
As OCI is not the only possibility to run PeopleSoft in the Cloud; in our next blog post we will take a look on the options for running PeopleSoft on Azure, AWS or Google Cloud.
Can we help you?
Moving PeopleSoft to the Cloud is a major decision for your organisation. It comprises risks but it can also bring a wealth of benefits to your business. At Blis Digital we can help you to make your Cloud transition as smooth as possible.
The Cloud is here to stay. Make the switch with Blis Digital.
