Oracle launches cloud region for fed govt, Defence

Physically isolated from other Oracle regions and is to be used only by public sector organisations and their partners.

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Oracle has launched a new cloud region for the Australian federal government and Defence in Canberra.

Offering over 100 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services, the region is a highly secure hyperscale cloud platform that will only be used by public sector organisations and their partners and is physically isolated from Oracle’s other public and government cloud regions, with no backbone connections shared.

The services on offer include Oracle Autonomous Database, MySQL HeatWave Database Service, Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes and Oracle Cloud VMware Solution, in addition to integrated security capabilities such as zero-trust architecture and Oracle Cloud Guard.

Additionally, the vendor has completed the Information Security Registered Assessors Program (IRAP) process at protected level, which Oracle claims provides assurance that the region adheres to “appropriate” security controls.

“Building on our experience with sovereign government regions in the US and the UK, Oracle is providing the Australian government with cloud infrastructure that has the same services and consistent global pricing as our public cloud regions. Why should governments have to pay more and get less?” said Rand Waldron, vice president for global government sector at Oracle.

“This region, restricted to the government community, will make it easier for Australia to bring its most important systems to the cloud and take advantage of the unique efficiency, support and capability that Oracle offers to drive their mission success.”

Meanwhile, Andrew Barr, chief minister and treasurer for the ACT government, claimed the region will be an “important addition to our city’s digital infrastructure and adds to the depth and breadth of the capabilities that our cyber security sector can offer”.

In May, Nextgen Group extended its Oracle collaboration to become the first distributor to offer OCI services in Australia and New Zealand, which includes the aforementioned Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Container Engine for Kubernetes offerings.