Oracle has announced a significant investment plan for Japan, committing over $8 billion to expand its cloud computing and artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure in Japan over the next decade. This move is designed to meet the increasing demand for cloud services in the region and will significantly enhance Oracle Cloud Infrastructure’s (OCI) presence across the country.
The investment aims to not only expand the physical footprint of OCI but also to bolster Oracle’s support and operations teams within Japan. This initiative will involve hiring local personnel in Japan to enhance service delivery and address Japan’s stringent digital sovereignty requirements, which are crucial for protecting data within national borders.
Toshimitsu Misawa, a Board Member and the President of Oracle Corporation Japan, emphasized the strategic importance of this expansion. “We are dedicated to meeting our customers and partners where they are in their cloud journey,” Mr. Misawa stated. He highlighted that the investment would enable Oracle to provide robust support for regulatory and sovereignty challenges, facilitating customers and partners in leveraging AI and cloud technologies for innovation.
The expansion plans include scaling up Oracle’s customer support operations for its public cloud regions in Tokyo and Osaka, as well as its local operations teams for Oracle Alloy and OCI Dedicated Region. This enhancement will support both government and business sectors in Japan to migrate their critical workloads to Oracle Cloud, while adopting sovereign AI solutions securely.
Oracle’s commitment extends to offering a broad range of cloud configurations through its distributed cloud services, which promise enhanced control and flexibility for its users. The distributed cloud lineup would include the following:
- Dedicated Cloud - This service allows customers to operate all OCI cloud services within their own data centers via OCI Dedicated Region. Meanwhile, partners can resell OCI cloud services and tailor the customer experience through Oracle Alloy. Oracle also provides specialized government clouds in the U.S., UK, and Australia, as well as Isolated Cloud Regions for U.S. national security, all capable of deploying a full cloud and AI stack as a Sovereign Cloud.
- Hybrid Cloud - Oracle’s hybrid offerings include Oracle Exadata Cloud@Customer and Compute Cloud@Customer, which deliver key cloud services on-premises. Oracle manages these deployments in over 60 countries globally.
- Public Cloud - Oracle operates 49 hyperscale public cloud regions, catering to organizations of any size, including those needing to comply with strict EU sovereignty controls.
- Multicloud - Oracle facilitates multicloud strategies through solutions like Oracle Database@Azure, MySQL HeatWave on AWS, and Oracle Interconnect for Microsoft Azure, allowing seamless integration of services across different cloud platforms.
This strategic investment by Oracle would signify a strong commitment to supporting Japan's digital transformation initiatives while reflecting the growing global trend towards ensuring digital sovereignty in cloud services. Oracle’s planned cloud infrastructure and service enhancements in Japan are expected to drive innovation while upholding security and compliance standards, offering significant advantages to both local and multinational businesses operating in the area.
