SEFE’s move to Oracle Database@Azure is a pragmatic example of how targeted cloud migration—driven by efficiency, resilience, and careful license management—can deliver measurable wins for infrastructure performance and business continuity while exposing teams to the familiar trade-offs of multicloud strategies. (microsoft.com)
SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) is an international energy company focused on energy security and decarbonization, supplying industrial customers, municipal utilities, and others across Europe. The company reports serving around 50,000 customers and operates across the full energy value chain, from trading and origination to transport and storage. (sefe.eu, microsoft.com)
Faced with aging on‑premises infrastructure, rising upgrade costs, and the need for robust high‑availability and disaster‑recovery capabilities, SEFE undertook a staged cloud migration. The central technical choice was to run mission‑critical Oracle databases using Oracle Database@Azure—a jointly delivered service that places Oracle Exadata‑class infrastructure and Oracle database services inside Azure datacenters while offering management via both Oracle and Azure control planes. (microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
Microsoft and Oracle position Database@Azure as a purpose‑built option for enterprises that want near‑native Oracle database features (including RAC, GoldenGate, Data Guard, Autonomous Database options, and later Exascale/Exadata variants) while leveraging Azure’s compute, networking, and platform services. The product is purchasable through the Azure Marketplace and supports both bring‑your‑own‑license (BYOL) and license‑included pricing models. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
Conclusion
SEFE’s migration is a textbook example of aligning business drivers (energy efficiency, resilience, and cost control) with a technical solution (Oracle Database@Azure) that minimizes application disruption while delivering early performance and ROI benefits. The path they followed—business case, licensing clarification, proof‑of‑concept, incremental non‑production migrations, then production cutovers—offers a replicable blueprint. However, the broader lesson remains: multicloud technical choices come with commercial and governance complexities that must be planned for explicitly to protect the technical gains from being eroded by licensing or operational surprises. (microsoft.com, softwareone.com, learn.microsoft.com)
Source: Microsoft Energy company SEFE improves efficiency with a move to Oracle Database@Azure | Microsoft Customer Stories
Background
SEFE (Securing Energy for Europe) is an international energy company focused on energy security and decarbonization, supplying industrial customers, municipal utilities, and others across Europe. The company reports serving around 50,000 customers and operates across the full energy value chain, from trading and origination to transport and storage. (sefe.eu, microsoft.com)Faced with aging on‑premises infrastructure, rising upgrade costs, and the need for robust high‑availability and disaster‑recovery capabilities, SEFE undertook a staged cloud migration. The central technical choice was to run mission‑critical Oracle databases using Oracle Database@Azure—a jointly delivered service that places Oracle Exadata‑class infrastructure and Oracle database services inside Azure datacenters while offering management via both Oracle and Azure control planes. (microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
Microsoft and Oracle position Database@Azure as a purpose‑built option for enterprises that want near‑native Oracle database features (including RAC, GoldenGate, Data Guard, Autonomous Database options, and later Exascale/Exadata variants) while leveraging Azure’s compute, networking, and platform services. The product is purchasable through the Azure Marketplace and supports both bring‑your‑own‑license (BYOL) and license‑included pricing models. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
What SEFE did — the practical path to migration
Strategy and drivers
- The immediate driver was infrastructure end‑of‑life and the high cost of on‑premises refresh, combined with the operational need for improved availability, disaster recovery, and lower ongoing energy/cooling overheads. SEFE’s IT leadership explicitly framed the move as an efficiency and resilience play. (microsoft.com)
- SEFE also wanted to avoid heavy re‑architecture of Oracle applications; Database@Azure provides continuity with on‑prem Exadata behaviors and Oracle tooling, easing migration friction. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
Proof of concept and phased rollout
SEFE followed a conservative, repeatable migration pattern:- Build a business case and TCO model to validate a five‑year ROI scenario. (microsoft.com)
- Structure Oracle licensing in coordination with Oracle’s team (a critical step before any Oracle‑on‑cloud project). (microsoft.com)
- Run a small proof of concept with two applications: provision on Database@Azure, migrate, then roll back to capture operational lessons. (microsoft.com)
- Migrate about ten non‑production environments to iterate the process, then shift production workloads as confidence grew. (microsoft.com)
Immediate benefits SEFE reported
- Performance uplift: SEFE reports an average application performance improvement of around 10% compared with the previous on‑premises environment, plus more consistent low latency. That improvement was observed across migrated workloads and contributed to the migration achieving a slightly ahead‑of‑plan ROI. (microsoft.com)
- Improved resilience and failover capability: Database@Azure offered the ability to deploy across availability zones and fail over between regions, enhancing SEFE’s disaster‑recovery posture. (azure.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- Energy and operational efficiency: SEFE’s IT leadership cited electrical and cooling efficiencies within Azure datacenters as a quantifiable reason to move, reducing the capital and operational burden of running their own facilities. (microsoft.com)
- Faster time to experiment: By combining Oracle databases in Azure, SEFE claims it unlocked faster iteration for development teams and the ability to explore AI use cases and cloud services in the Azure ecosystem. (microsoft.com)
What Oracle Database@Azure actually is (technical overview)
Oracle Database@Azure is a joint offering that places Oracle‑managed database services—starting with Exadata class infrastructure and supporting core Oracle high‑availability technologies—into Azure datacenters. Key technical points include:- Exadata‑class hardware running in Azure datacenters, managed by Oracle and integrated with Azure networking and portal tooling. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
- Support for Oracle features enterprises rely on: Real Application Clusters (RAC), Data Guard, GoldenGate, Autonomous Database variants, and Zero Data Loss Autonomous Recovery Service. (learn.microsoft.com, azure.microsoft.com)
- Purchasable from Azure Marketplace with options for license‑included billing or BYOL (bring your existing Oracle licenses). Customers can leverage Azure spend commitments and unified invoices. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
- Integration pathways: OCI GoldenGate integration to stream data into Microsoft Fabric/OneLake and analytics services, and support for Azure governance and monitoring tools. (azure.microsoft.com)
Critical analysis — strengths
1) Low‑friction lift for Oracle‑centric workloads
For organizations running Oracle databases, Database@Azure minimizes the need to refactor applications. That continuity reduces migration risk, accelerates time to production, and preserves use of established Oracle tools and features.- Why it matters: enterprises with long, complex Oracle estates frequently cite application compatibility as the highest barrier to cloud migration; Database@Azure aims to make that barrier much smaller. (learn.microsoft.com, oracle.com)
2) Operational and energy efficiency
Moving compute and cooling into Azure datacenters shifts capital and operational burdens to hyperscalers who operate highly optimized facilities—SEFE explicitly cited electrical and cooling efficiencies as a driver. This can yield both cost savings and sustainability benefits. (microsoft.com)3) Strong availability and DR options
Oracle Database@Azure supports multi‑zone and multi‑region architectures with Oracle MAA gold/platinum levels and integrated Oracle recovery services, giving enterprises enterprise‑grade RTO/RPO capabilities without an equivalent on‑prem investment. (azure.microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)4) Business case potential
SEFE’s internal TCO work and the reported early ROI show that—when planned correctly—the combination of reduced datacenter costs, improved performance, and lower operational overhead can be net positive over a medium‑term horizon. (microsoft.com)Critical analysis — risks and trade‑offs
While the SEFE outcome is largely positive, similar projects must contend with several important risks:Licensing complexity and cost variability
Oracle licensing in the cloud is nuanced. Enterprises must choose between BYOL and license‑included pricing, track vCPU counts against Oracle processor rules, and maintain support entitlements when using BYOL. Missteps can create surprise costs or audit exposure. Independent licensing guides note that BYOL remains attractive for long‑running workloads but requires careful tracking of entitlements and active support contracts. (softwareone.com, redresscompliance.com)- Why this matters: a favorable technical migration can be negated by unexpected license or support charges if entitlements weren’t fully analyzed.
Vendor dependency and support coordination
Database@Azure is jointly delivered: Oracle manages database infrastructure and Oracle software, while Azure provides the datacenter and Portal integration. This reduces some friction, but it creates an operational dependency on two vendors for support escalations, contractual clarity, and SLA expectations.- Why this matters: complex incidents that cross product boundaries require clear runbooks and escalation matrices so that response times and responsibilities are well defined.
Potential locked‑in patterns and proprietary reliance
While Database@Azure preserves Oracle features (a pro for migration), it does not reduce long‑term reliance on Oracle’s ecosystem. Organizations wanting to reduce vendor lock‑in should weigh the short‑term migration benefits against the long‑term strategic flexibility of alternative database platforms.Network and latency considerations
Although Database@Azure colocates Oracle infrastructure in Azure datacenters to minimize latency, cross‑region replication, interconnect bandwidth, and network design still matter. Architects must design low‑latency, high‑throughput interconnects for workloads that span Azure services and Oracle databases to avoid unexpected performance bottlenecks.Data sovereignty and compliance
Every cloud migration must map data residency, encryption, and compliance obligations to available cloud regions and the service’s DR patterns. Database@Azure’s regional availability addresses some locality needs, but customers must still ensure their chosen regions meet regulatory requirements. (news.microsoft.com, oracle.com)How to evaluate whether Database@Azure is the right choice for your organization
Essential due diligence steps
- Build a workload inventory and categorize by criticality, licensing, and compatibility.
- Run a realistic TCO and cash‑flow model for both BYOL and license‑included scenarios (3–5 years). Include Oracle support renewal costs and Azure consumption commitments. (redresscompliance.com)
- Pilot with non‑production workloads using the exact database features you rely on (RAC, GoldenGate, Data Guard) and measure latency, failover times, and operational processes. SEFE’s proof‑of‑concept approach is a good template. (microsoft.com)
- Map out DR and cross‑region failover exercises and validate RTO/RPO under realistic failure scenarios.
- Formalize licensing and contract language with Oracle and Microsoft to avoid ambiguity about migration‑day entitlements and audit metrics.
Migration checklist (operational)
- Inventory: schema, options, extensions, and third‑party integrations.
- Test migrations: run data‑only migrations, then full schema + application tests.
- Performance baselines: establish on‑prem baselines and compare performance in Database@Azure under load.
- Network design: implement private, low‑latency interconnects and validate throughput.
- Monitoring and cost controls: configure telemetry, cost alerts, and governance (Azure Cost Management, resource tags, and centralized logging).
- Security: ensure encryption at rest/in transit, key management policy, and identity integration (Entra ID). (learn.microsoft.com, azure.microsoft.com)
Governance, security and operational recommendations
- Use centralized identity and access governance with Microsoft Entra (Azure AD) and Oracle IAM integration to keep a single source of truth for access controls. (microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- Adopt continuous compliance monitoring and incorporate Oracle’s database‑level security features (Data Safe, auditing) together with Azure native security controls.
- Prepare playbooks for cross‑vendor support incidents; define runbooks, primary contacts, and expected handover times to reduce mean time to resolution.
- Incorporate license usage telemetry into cloud cost reporting: tag Oracle resources and reconcile vCPU counts regularly to prevent compliance drift. (softwareone.com)
Commercial considerations and best practices
- Mix pricing models: consider using license‑included models for short‑term, bursty, or development workloads while migrating persistent production instances under BYOL if existing licenses and support make that cheaper. (redresscompliance.com)
- Use Azure Marketplace procurement to centralize billing with your existing Azure Consumption Commitments (MACCs). The joint service supports using Azure credits in many scenarios, lowering upfront cash impact. (learn.microsoft.com)
- Keep the migration reversible at each phase when possible—SEFE’s roll‑back testing during POC exposed valuable process gaps before production cutover. (microsoft.com)
Community perspective and vendor momentum
The Oracle‑Microsoft partnership and Database@Azure have drawn strong industry attention for enabling high‑performance Oracle workloads on Azure with new region expansions and features that bridge Oracle and Azure analytics/AI services. Community and industry threads note that this multicloud pattern is appealing for enterprises seeking continuity of Oracle features while consuming Azure innovation. However, discussions also frequently raise licensing, audit and vendor‑coordination as top concerns to manage. (news.microsoft.com, oracle.com)Where this fits in a broader cloud strategy
Database@Azure is not a universal solution; it is a high‑value tool for a specific set of circumstances:- Ideal when: you have critical Oracle workloads, want to preserve existing database features and tooling, and need a fast migration path into Azure without application rework. (learn.microsoft.com)
- Less ideal when: your strategic intent is to migrate off Oracle entirely for reasons of cost or vendor diversity, or when you aim to adopt cloud‑native, open‑source databases as the end state. In those scenarios, a containerized or refactor pathway may be more appropriate.
Final verdict — measured optimism
SEFE’s experience illustrates a pragmatic pattern: use the joint Database@Azure capability to retire aging datacenter assets, improve immediate availability and performance, and gain operational efficiencies—while maintaining a cautious approach to licensing and vendor governance.- The measurable 10% performance uplift, improved latency, and early ROI that SEFE reports are encouraging proof points for organizations with similar profiles. Those gains are supported by the broader technical architecture of Database@Azure, which places Exadata‑class services inside Azure datacenters and supports established Oracle high‑availability technologies. (microsoft.com, learn.microsoft.com)
- At the same time, licensing diligence, explicit support runbooks for vendor cooperation, and a staged migration pattern are non‑negotiable practices that directly influenced SEFE’s success. Independent guidance emphasizes the complexity and risk of license misalignment in cloud contexts, reinforcing the need for careful commercial planning. (softwareone.com, redresscompliance.com)
Conclusion
SEFE’s migration is a textbook example of aligning business drivers (energy efficiency, resilience, and cost control) with a technical solution (Oracle Database@Azure) that minimizes application disruption while delivering early performance and ROI benefits. The path they followed—business case, licensing clarification, proof‑of‑concept, incremental non‑production migrations, then production cutovers—offers a replicable blueprint. However, the broader lesson remains: multicloud technical choices come with commercial and governance complexities that must be planned for explicitly to protect the technical gains from being eroded by licensing or operational surprises. (microsoft.com, softwareone.com, learn.microsoft.com)
Source: Microsoft Energy company SEFE improves efficiency with a move to Oracle Database@Azure | Microsoft Customer Stories
