That's a wrap! Oracle CloudWorld 2023 in review.

What a week! First, the place was packed! It looked and felt like a lot more folks were at Oracle CloudWorld this year. The halls were packed, the restaurants filled, and the sessions often had folks standing in the back!

The major news this year could be broken down into three basic categories.

• Oracle Database 23c
• AI is here to stay
• Oracle is Multi-Cloud

Database 23c

Oracle Database 23c is now generally available in the Oracle Cloud. This is Oracle's next long-term release of their popular database system. Database 23c focuses on a few key areas;

Integrated Machine Learning and AI technology – Database 23c comes with integrated machine learning and artificial intelligence features, allowing customers to quickly leverage these technologies. One interesting integration is with generative AI. The introduction of the Vector data type enables searching and comparison of AI vectors, which are mathematical expressions of objects. This new vector search capability in Database 23c will enable enterprises to incorporate a natural language interface within applications built on the Oracle Database and its Autonomous Database.

Faster Development – Many new features in version 23 of Oracle enable faster development, allowing developers to easily use Oracle as a single source of data. This results in reduced costs for customers and also enables non-developers to take advantage of low-code technology and create their own applications that can work both on the Web and mobile devices. Additionally, 23c provides the ability to fully merge JSON and relational data, allowing developers to process JSON data using SQL and web developers to access relational data through Rest APIs, offering a true duality.

Security – The latest version of 23c comes with significant security improvements. These include the integration of a database firewall into the database kernel, which makes it almost impossible to bypass the firewall. This firewall also safeguards the data from SQL injection attacks and enables the implementation of zero-trust architectures for cloud database deployments. Additionally, the encryption enhancements make it easier for organizations to encrypt data both while it is at rest and in motion.

On January 16th, join me as I cover these and other enhancements in more detail. You can register for that webinar here: https://www.eventbrite.com/cc/public-sector-monthly-webinar-series-2597779 

AI is here!

At last year's CloudWorld event, Oracle presented their plan to revolutionize the healthcare industry by utilizing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to analyze large amounts of anonymous patient record data. This year, Generative AI has become a major focus at all enterprise events, and Oracle has multiple use cases for implementing this technology to improve their applications. In the public sector, AI can be used to quickly analyze pictures and identify roads that need maintenance. Additionally, AI technologies can be used to enhance constituent services, leveraging Generative AI to automate these services. Just imagine being able to use this technology to provide better service to your city's residents without having to staff a 24x7x365 call center. 

Nearly all of Oracle's Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings in the Fusion Cloud have recently been updated with the company's Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) generative AI service. This includes marketing, sales, and service applications for the Oracle Fusion Cloud Customer Experience (CX), which now features automation for the generation of guided content, product recommendations, and insights. 

Furthermore, new Generative AI-powered capabilities have been integrated into Oracle Fusion Service processes, enhancing the existing AI features. Throughout these updates, Oracle has taken extensive measures to ensure the protection of customers' enterprise data, privacy, and security. No customer data is shared with large language model (LLM) providers, nor is it accessible by other customers or third parties. Additionally, role-based security in Oracle Fusion Service workflows safeguards sensitive information and recommends content that service agents are authorized to view.

Join me and Rich Reid, SVP of SaaS Solutions, on February 13th as we cover AI and how that technology can be used to help Public Sector Customers. Register for the webinar here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/oracle-ai-technologies-for-public-sector-webinar-tickets-730685729687?aff=odcleoeventsincollection

Oracle is multi-Cloud

One of the biggest advantages of Oracle technologies is that you can use them on multiple Clouds. There were many sessions at CloudWorld that covered how you can manage these multi-cloud environments. The common theme was leveraging Open Source technologies like Ansible to provision and manage applications in a multi-cloud environment. This is something that Mythics can help with our Systems Integration service. 

Oracle has recently announced the launch of a new service called Oracle Database@Azure, which provides a comprehensive and fully integrated experience for deploying, managing, and using Oracle database instances in Azure. With this service, customers can deploy their Azure services with fully managed Oracle database services within a single datacenter, ensuring low latency and an optimal experience. Oracle Database@Azure comes with support for Oracle Exadata Database services, Oracle Autonomous Database services, and Oracle Real Application Clusters (RACs), all of which can be leveraged to build powerful, mission-critical workloads. To ensure rapid response and resolution for such workloads, the partners have developed a joint support model that customers can rely on.

That's a wrap! Looking forward to next year's conference.