• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there

1

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military

2

'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032

3

Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
TechPointCloud

Oracle Head Larry Ellison Talks A Big Game Against Amazon Web Services

By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Jonathan Vanian
Jonathan Vanian
Down Arrow Button Icon
September 18, 2016, 11:47 PM ET
Key Speakers At The Oracle OpenWorld 2014 Conference
Larry Ellison, chairman of Oracle Corp., speaks during the Oracle OpenWorld 2014 conference in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Tuesday, Sept. 30, 2014. Oracle Corp. joins the cloud wars for commodity services that are being waged between Amazon, Microsoft and Google -- the three largest cloud providers. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesBloomberg Bloomberg via Getty Images

Oracle wants the world to know it has Amazon in its sights.

Larry Ellison, Oracle’s executive chairman, said Sunday during the company’s annual customer conference in San Francisco that he considers Amazon to be Oracle’s number one competitor when it comes to the business of selling computing capacity on demand, also known as cloud computing.

Amazon Web Services is currently considered the leader in cloud computing, according to many technology analysts and observers. A recent Gartner report said that Amazon’s S3 cloud storage service holds more than double the amount of customer data than the next seven cloud service providers in total.

Ellison has been stepping up the rhetoric against Amazon (AMZN) over the past year, as Oracle (OCLCF) attempts to make a big business selling computing resources on demand, which technology analysts also refer to as Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS).

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter.

In its latest earnings report, Oracle said it brought in $171 million in sales, a 7% year-over-year increase. Amazon, however, reported in its latest earnings that it’s IaaS business landed $2.89 billion in revenue, a 58% year-over-year bump.

Ellison took many opportunities to boast about Oracle’s new cloud services, like one called Cloud@Customer that lets customers run Oracle’s cloud computing infrastructure services within their own so-called on-premise data center infrastructure.

When it comes to selling cloud software services, he said, Oracle competes with Workday (WDAY) and Salesforce, and not its longtime historical rival SAP (SAP). Additionally, when it comes to selling computing capacity on demand, Oracle’s number one competitor is Amazon, not IBM (IBM) or EMC, two other legacy enterprise companies.

See also: Here Are More Details on Salesforce’s Plan to Smarten Up Sales and Marketing Software

“This is breathtaking change,” Ellison said, in regard to how the rise of cloud computing has altered the enterprise technology landscape and introduced “a whole new set of competitors.”

@larryellison says that @SAP is not a #competitor #oow16 (in cloud) pic.twitter.com/ifdUEd7DOX

— Ayhan Boyacioglu (@ayhanboy) September 19, 2016

Ellison acknowledged that Amazon “is a pioneer” when it comes to selling cloud computing resources on demand. He compared the business of selling computing on demand to that of how utility companies sell gas and electricity.

Still, Oracle faces stiff competition in the cloud computing business.

Although Ellison detailed some of his company’s cloud computing technology and explained what would happen if one of Oracle’s data centers were to go offline (the underlying infrastructure is so reliant that customers shouldn’t “even know about it,” he said), he did not reveal specific plans on how Oracle would be building out data centers across the world, or which new locations it’s scouting. It should be noted that Amazon, Microsoft, and Google also boast of similar so-called fault-tolerant data center architecture.

See also: Startups and Big Companies Vie for Attention at Annual ‘Disrupt’ Conference

The business of selling computing capacity on demand requires a lot of spending on data center infrastructure, with cloud providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google all spending billions of dollars a year. Oracle said in its latest quarter that it spent $299 million on capital expenditures relating to data centers.

Ellison said that Oracle’s cloud computing strategy takes into account the idea that customers want to use a mix of their own data centers, as well as those from providers, an idea that some refer to as a “hybrid cloud,” which Microsoft has also claimed it supports.

He took a shot at one of Amazon’s database services, saying that it only works on Amazon’s cloud service and that “if you try to run it on someplace else, it just doesn’t work.”

Ellison also claimed that Oracle would sell its cloud services cheaper than Amazon, underscoring the competition among cloud computing providers when it comes to pricing for their services.

No surprise – @Oracle claims higher performance and lower than 20% cost than @AWSCloud #OOW16 pic.twitter.com/ZSl3cc21HU

— Holger Müller #NextGenApps #FutureofWork #EntAcc (@holgermu) September 19, 2016

“If you aren’t wiling to pay less, you can’t place the order,” Ellison joked to the crowd.

For more on Oracle, watch Fortune’s video:

And like the spiraling number of companies that have been debuting artificial intelligence and related data-crunching services, as well as so-called chatbots, Ellison talked about Oracle’s own versions of the trendy technologies.

Also on Sunday—and likely not a coincidence—Oracle rival Salesforce (CRM) unveiled more details on its Salesforce Einstein artificial intelligence technology. The developments will supposedly imbue Salesforce’s marketing, sales, and other cloud software tools with more advanced data crunching capabilities.

About the Author
By Jonathan Vanian
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Jonathan Vanian is a former Fortune reporter. He covered business technology, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, data privacy, and other topics.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Tech

Current price of Ethereum for June 10, 2026
Personal FinanceEthereum
Current price of Ethereum for June 10, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 10, 2026
2 hours ago
goldman
Investingprivate equity
‘The circulatory system isn’t working.’ Goldman on what’s really wrong with private markets
By Nick LichtenbergJune 10, 2026
3 hours ago
Exclusive: Mastercard launches protocol to let AI agents pay each other, send micropayments
BankingMastercard
Exclusive: Mastercard launches protocol to let AI agents pay each other, send micropayments
By Ben WeissJune 10, 2026
3 hours ago
Geoffrey von Maltzahn and Kimberly Powell on stage at Fortune Brainstorm Tech
AITerm Sheet
AI drug discovery leaders warn U.S. health funding cuts risk falling behind global rivals
By Lily Mae LazarusJune 10, 2026
5 hours ago
Kevin O'Leary wears a silver and black suit with a chain of basketball cards around his neck.
AIData centers
From the Trump administration to Kevin O’Leary, there’s a new narrative that China is to blame for plummeting data center popularity
By Sasha RogelbergJune 10, 2026
6 hours ago
JB Straubel, co-founder of Tesla and founder and CEO of Redwood Materials, speaking at Fortune Brainstorm Tech 2026 in Aspen, Colorado. (Photo: Michael Faas/Fortune)
NewslettersFortune Tech
Why China is outpacing the U.S. power grid
By Andrew NuscaJune 10, 2026
7 hours ago

Most Popular

Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
Asia
Pentagon accuses Alibaba, Baidu and BYD, three of China's biggest companies, of supporting the Chinese military
By Kate O'Keeffe and BloombergJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
Economy
'We are rapidly running out of time': Watchdog sounds Social Security alarm after 22% cut confirmed for 2032
By Nick LichtenbergJune 9, 2026
23 hours ago
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
Success
Costco CEO Ron Vachris rose from forklift driver to the C-suite without a college degree: ‘Don’t chase a title’ is the career advice that got him there
By Preston ForeJune 8, 2026
2 days ago
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of silver as of Tuesday, June 9, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerJune 9, 2026
1 day ago
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
Investing
Wall Street dumped nearly $1 trillion in tech stocks by midday—then clawed it back and bought peanut butter and paint
By Eva RoytburgJune 9, 2026
17 hours ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.