NetApp and Oracle Unveil Native Integration to Streamline Enterprise Cloud Migration and AI Workloads

With the launch of the new service, NetApp stated that customers will be able to move existing Ontap-based workloads to the cloud more efficiently than previously possible. The native integration is designed to minimize application redesign and storage management changes, effectively allowing for a "lift and shift" approach that retains the enterprise-grade data management features—such as snapshots, cloning, and replication—that users have relied on in their own data centers.

Speaking to members of the press ahead of the NetApp Insight conference, Pravjit Tiwana, Senior Vice President and General Manager for Cloud Storage and Service at NetApp, emphasized the practical benefits this brings to the enterprise sector. He noted that the feedback from early-access customers has already been overwhelmingly positive, particularly regarding the ease of transition.

"We are integrated into the Oracle stack from a data plane and control plane perspective," Tiwana explained. "We already have customers who are using it for a wide number of use cases, be it about the lift and shift of their applications."

Tiwana further elaborated that for organizations that have spent years building and tuning applications on-premises using Ontap, the new OCI service offers a "plug-and-play" experience. He noted that these organizations can "just take it to the cloud" and "don’t have to amend your applications in any shape or form." This level of compatibility is particularly vital for industries with strict compliance and performance requirements, where even minor changes to an application’s data layer can necessitate months of re-validation.

Strengthening the Oracle Ecosystem

The synergy between NetApp and Oracle is not a new phenomenon. The two companies have shared a massive overlapping customer base for decades, particularly in the realm of high-performance database management. NetApp noted that it already maintains a "large footprint" of customers who utilize Oracle database services on-premises. For these users, the integration into OCI is a natural and long-awaited evolution.

Oracle databases are often the backbone of mission-critical enterprise systems, including ERP, CRM, and financial management tools. These workloads require high IOPS (Input/Output Operations Per Second) and low latency, which are hallmarks of the Ontap system. By providing a native Ontap service on OCI, Oracle is offering its database customers a high-performance storage option that feels familiar and integrates seamlessly with existing Oracle tools.

In a formal statement regarding the partnership, Konstantinos Papamiltiadis, Senior Vice President of Partnerships at OCI, highlighted how the deal aims to reduce the operational strain on IT teams. He argued that the complexities of infrastructure should not be a barrier to business innovation.

"Enterprises shouldn’t have to rebuild their data infrastructure to move to the cloud," Papamiltiadis said. "OCI NetApp Storage Service gives customers a trusted, familiar path to OCI, so they can focus on what the data does, not how it’s managed."