Oracle (ORCL) Expands Canada Footprint With New Cloud Region

Oracle Corporation ORCL recently announced the launch of a new Gen 2 Cloud region in Canada, which will be the second cloud region in the country.

The Gen 2 Cloud, which is designed to run autonomous services, offers a robust cloud computing portfolio including business analytics, AI and block chain, among others. The Gen 2 cloud region will provide customers access to cloud services like Oracle Autonomous Database and Oracle Autonomous Linux.

Moreover, a second cloud region will enable clients to recover data in case of calamities by placing applications in both cloud regions. This will also prevent sensitive data from leaving the country as well as help prevent regulatory and operational problems.

The expansion in Canada is likely to aid the company to acquire more customers in the region and retain existing ones. This is expected to boost Oracle’s top-line growth in the coming quarters.

Oracle Corporation Price and Consensus

Oracle Corporation price-consensus-chart | Oracle Corporation Quote

Expanding Footprint to Strengthen Competitive Position

The launch of the new cloud region in Canada is part of Oracle’s focus on opening and operating 36 gen 2 cloud regions by the end of 2020.

Notably, the company has 21 gen 2 cloud regions globally that include 16 commercial and 5 U.S. government regions. Out of these, 17 cloud regions were launched in the past year.

Oracle’s rapidly-growing international footprint is expected to aid it in strengthening its position in the cloud computing space where it is facing stiff competition from the likes of Microsoft’s MSFT Azure and Amazon’s AMZN AWS.

Notably, Azure currently has 58 regions worldwide, which is more than all other cloud providers. AWS covers 22 regions with 70 availability zones (AZs) and plans for five more regions with 15 AZs.

Per Synergy Research data, as revealed by Statista, AWS and Azure had a market share of 33% and 18%, respectively, compared with Oracle’s share of 2% as of fourth-quarter 2019. With the latest launch of Gen 2 Cloud region in Canada, Oracle is expected to expand its presence in the cloud infrastructure market.

Growing Cloud Capabilities Bode Well

Oracle has also been focused on enhancing its cloud computing capabilities alongside geographical expansion. Notably, the company expanded its partnership with Microsoft to enable inter-operability across their respective platforms for joint customers in Canada.

Further, Oracle inked a deal with Intel INTC to integrate the high-performance capabilities of Intel Optane DC Memory onto its platform. These endeavors are expected to bolster adoption of Oracle’s cloud services.

Wrapping up, Oracle’s strategy of geographic expansion and enhancement of its cloud offerings is expected to broaden its client base and enhance revenue opportunities in the days ahead.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Oracle carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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