An Oracle Cloud managed service provider (MSP) is worth contacting when a business plans to move Oracle workloads such as Oracle Database, E-Business Suite, JD Edwards or PeopleSoft to Oracle Cloud and lacks in-house cloud skills, needs a clear migration roadmap, or must keep systems stable through Oracle’s quarterly Fusion updates after go-live.
Key Takeaways
- An Oracle Cloud MSP plans, migrates and then runs Oracle workloads on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) or Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications for a business.
- Oracle’s own Oracle Cloud Lift Services program provides Oracle engineers for eligible migrations as part of an OCI tenancy, so check it before paying a partner for the same work.
- The strongest reasons to hire an MSP are missing cloud skills, complex or custom Oracle systems, strict uptime needs and ongoing operations after go-live.
- Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications receive quarterly updates, so regression testing is a continuing task, not a one-time project.
Planning an Oracle Cloud migration and unsure where to start? Many cloud migration projects get “lost in the clouds” because the selection and implementation phases drag on without clear milestones.
An Oracle Cloud managed service provider (MSP) can help a business choose the right path and the right cloud tools and services for its specific requirements.
Common Problems with Oracle Cloud Migration
Business owners moving to the cloud to support remote work often face pressure to have a cloud solution ready in record time.
That pressure grew because what used to be a “nice to have” cloud solution became a “must-have right now” solution when remote work surged and much of daily life moved online.
Stakeholders are likely to send frequent emails, reminders and requests for status updates on the Oracle Cloud migration. Status updates are reasonable, but cloud selection and implementation take time, and even longer in a complex, global enterprise.
It is understandable that a project team wants to speed up the Oracle Cloud migration so leadership can see results. However, choosing a cloud platform is a major decision with long-lasting effects. Rushing the migration can turn into a costly failure.
Businesses are generally better off avoiding shortcuts here. With an experienced Oracle Cloud migration partner, businesses can show measurable progress on the cloud project without dangerously speeding up the process.
How an Oracle Cloud Managed Service Provider Can Help
The right cloud migration partner depends on the business and its project requirements. If a business already runs Oracle software on premises, such as Oracle Database, E-Business Suite or JD Edwards, a partner with proven Oracle migration experience is usually the logical choice.
An experienced Oracle Cloud migration partner can reduce the burden of slow cloud implementation timelines and leave the internal team enough time to implement the right cloud solutions properly.
Oracle Cloud migration providers can also help define key milestone deliverables that align cloud services with business objectives.
These deliverables can include:
- The roadmap of cloud implementation.
- The cloud strategy document.
- Key performance indicators that display progress on cloud goals.
- Key performance indicators that indicate progress on business goals during cloud implementation.
- Clear plans for filling skills and staffing gaps once the cloud solution is implemented.
Why Test Automation Matters in an Oracle Cloud Migration
Manual testing alone rarely keeps up with a cloud migration, because it is expensive and slow to repeat. Test automation can make an Oracle Cloud migration considerably less risky and give teams evidence that their most critical business processes
still run correctly after go-live. That evidence is needed again every quarter, because Oracle typically applies Fusion Cloud Applications updates to test environments about two weeks before production. Opkey is one vendor in this space: founded in 2015 and headquartered in Dublin, California, it describes itself as an AI-native platform for testing and lifecycle management of enterprise applications such as Oracle, Workday and SAP. Comparing several testing vendors, and Oracle’s own tools, before choosing one is sensible.
What Is an Oracle Cloud Managed Service Provider?
An Oracle Cloud managed service provider is a third-party firm that designs, migrates, operates and supports a company’s workloads on Oracle Cloud. Oracle Cloud is Oracle Corporation’s cloud platform, offering infrastructure (IaaS), platform (PaaS) and software (SaaS) services from data centers around the world. Its infrastructure layer launched in October 2016 as Oracle Bare Metal Cloud Services and was renamed Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) in 2018.
Oracle runs a partner program, the Oracle PartnerNetwork, which lists “Cloud and Managed Service Providers” as one of its partner types alongside system integrators, resellers and independent software vendors. Checking a provider’s standing in that program is a quick first filter.
When Is It Necessary to Contact an Oracle Cloud MSP?
A business should contact an Oracle Cloud managed service provider when one or more of these situations applies:
- No in-house OCI skills: the IT team knows on-premises Oracle systems but has not designed cloud networking, identity and security on OCI.
- Complex or customized Oracle applications: E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Hyperion or Siebel environments with many customizations and integrations.
- A hard deadline: a data center lease, hardware refresh or support date is forcing the move faster than the internal team can manage.
- Strict uptime or compliance needs: the business cannot accept long outages and needs documented security, backup and recovery processes.
- Ongoing operations after go-live: nobody internally will own patching, monitoring, cost control and quarterly update testing once the migration ends.
- A stalled project: the migration has missed milestones and needs an outside team to reset the plan.
If none of these apply, a business with strong internal skills may only need Oracle’s own migration help and occasional consulting.
Oracle Cloud Lift Services vs. a Managed Service Provider
Oracle Cloud Lift Services is Oracle’s own migration program. According to Oracle, it dedicates Oracle engineers to migrate eligible customer workloads to OCI, supports customers from assessment, design and prototyping through migration and go-live, and is included as part of the customer’s OCI tenancy. Oracle lists eligible Oracle workloads including E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Hyperion, Siebel, data warehouse solutions and custom applications on Oracle Database or Exadata, and some non-Oracle workloads such as VMware deployments. Oracle publishes an FAQ with eligibility limits, so confirm what applies to a specific workload.
| Need | Oracle Cloud Lift Services | Oracle Cloud MSP |
|---|---|---|
| Who does the work | Oracle’s cloud engineering team | A third-party partner firm |
| Cost | Program access included with an OCI tenancy (eligibility limits apply) | Paid contract; pricing varies by provider and scope |
| Scope | Assessment, architecture, migration, onboarding and go-live support | Migration plus ongoing operations, monitoring, patching and support |
| After go-live | Post-migration training and production deployment support | Long-term managed operations under a service-level agreement |
| Best fit | Teams that will run OCI themselves | Teams that want an outside party to run the environment |
Many businesses use both: Oracle’s program for the migration itself and an MSP for day-to-day operations afterward.
How to Choose an Oracle Cloud Managed Service Provider
- Check Oracle credentials: confirm the firm’s membership and partner type in the Oracle PartnerNetwork and its certified staff.
- Ask for comparable projects: request references for migrations of the same applications, such as E-Business Suite or JD Edwards, at a similar scale.
- Read the service-level agreement: look for response times, uptime commitments, escalation paths and what counts as out of scope.
- Review the security model: ask how identity, encryption, backups and disaster recovery are handled and documented.
- Clarify cost control: ask how the provider monitors cloud spending and reports it to the business.
- Plan for updates: ask how the provider tests Oracle’s quarterly updates before they reach production.
- Agree an exit plan: make sure documentation, credentials and data stay with the business if the contract ends.
How Oracle’s Quarterly Updates Affect Managed Services
Oracle states that it delivers new features, including AI capabilities, through quarterly updates across Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications. Bug fixes and minor enhancements are applied automatically, while new features or modules require customers to opt in. Updates are typically applied to test environments two weeks before production, which gives organizations a short window to test. An MSP or testing partner that runs regression tests in that window helps prevent an update from breaking a business process. For more background on testing approaches, see this guide to implementing test automation in a DevOps framework.
Related Cloud Migration Guides
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- Why cloud backup and recovery matter
- How enterprises plan an SAP ECC migration
- How to perform a Google Cloud migration
Frequently Asked Questions
What does an Oracle Cloud managed service provider do?
An Oracle Cloud managed service provider plans and carries out the migration of Oracle workloads to Oracle Cloud and then operates them, covering monitoring, patching, security, backups, cost reporting and support under a service-level agreement.
Does Oracle help with cloud migration for free?
Oracle Cloud Lift Services gives eligible customers access to Oracle engineers for migrations to Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, and Oracle says program access is included with an OCI tenancy. Eligibility limits apply, so check Oracle’s FAQ for a specific workload.
Which Oracle applications can be moved to Oracle Cloud?
Oracle lists E-Business Suite, JD Edwards, PeopleSoft, Hyperion and Siebel among the Oracle applications eligible for migration under Oracle Cloud Lift, along with custom applications on Oracle Database or Exadata and data warehouse and analytics solutions.
How often is Oracle Fusion Cloud updated?
Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications are updated quarterly. Oracle typically applies each update to test environments about two weeks before production so customers can test new features first.
Is an MSP better than an in-house team for Oracle Cloud?
An MSP suits businesses without OCI skills or staff to run the environment around the clock. A business with experienced cloud engineers may only need Oracle’s migration support and occasional outside help.
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