Oracle launches defence ecosystem to boost security tech ties

Oracle has announced the Oracle Defense Ecosystem, a global initiative intended to transform the way that defence and government technology is delivered.

The Oracle Defense Ecosystem is aimed at strengthening the national security infrastructure for the United States and its allies by enabling more efficient collaboration between technology innovators and government and defence organisations. The initiative seeks to remove longstanding barriers that have limited access to the latest cloud and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies within national security sectors.

Access to technology

National security organisations have often struggled to incorporate emerging technology due to complex procurement procedures, stringent qualification criteria, and the necessity for established networks within the Defence Industrial Base. Oracle's ecosystem is designed to address these issues by offering direct support and resources for defence tech providers.

According to Oracle, its cloud infrastructure—Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)—forms the backbone of these efforts and is already recognised for meeting strict compliance requirements demanded by the defence and government sector.

The initial set of organisations participating in the ecosystem includes Arqit, Blackshark.ai, Entanglement, Fenix Group (now part of Nokia Federal Solutions), Koniku, Kraken, Mattermost, Metron, SensusQ, and Whitespace.

"Nothing is more important than the national security of the U.S. and its allies, and Oracle has been a cornerstone of this mission for nearly 50 years," said Rand Waldron, Vice President, Oracle. "Oracle and our defense ecosystem plans to innovate and scale to help the U.S. and its allies deter conflicts and win on physical and digital battlefields."

Membership benefits

The Oracle Defense Ecosystem is designed to offer accelerated growth opportunities for organisations working within the defence and government technology sectors. Participating members are able to access a number of Oracle-facilitated resources and support services, across a wide spectrum of business and technical areas.

Through Oracle Sales Support, member organisations can utilise the expertise of Oracle's sales team. This is intended to aid in crafting industry-specific messaging and tailored solutions that match the varied needs of global defence customers. Members are also encouraged to leverage technology and solutions developed within the ecosystem, offering them an expanded portfolio to address unique challenges.

One of the cornerstone partnerships highlighted is with Palantir, offering access to Palantir Foundry and Artificial Intelligence Platform (AIP) on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. This integration allows early-stage defence technology firms to deploy enterprise-grade software for operations, product development, natural language model integration, as well as security and governance requirements.

Through direct listing on the Oracle Cloud Marketplace, members are able to make their solutions accessible to customers in all OCI regions, supported by a continuous integration and continuous deployment pipeline for delivering feature enhancements consistently across the globe.

Streamlining compliance

Defence and government organisations operate with rigorous security standards, and Oracle says the ecosystem is structured to help companies meet these swiftly. Through guidance from Oracle's executive advisors and specific solutions such as the OCI Core Landing Zone, members may accelerate their path to Cybersecurity Maturity Model Certification (CMMC) compliance, saving significant time on manual processes and cloud architecture setup.

In addition, Oracle provides frameworks such as the Cloud Native Secure Cloud Computing Architecture (SCCA) Landing Zone, aimed at reducing time and costs associated with SCCA-compliant deployments and standardising security across systems portfolios. Members also have access to documentation and Oracle's expert guidance in these specialised areas.

Business operations and support

Participants in the Oracle Defense Ecosystem will receive access to business management tools with preferred pricing for Oracle NetSuite, its AI-based management suite, which is utilised by more than 42,000 organisations globally. This solution facilitates streamlined business operations and provides a scalable platform for future growth.

Additionally, organisations within the initiative can benefit from access to secure office facilities used to support defence customers, as well as training and certification credits available via Oracle University for cloud infrastructure, applications, and databases.

The introduction of the Oracle Defense Ecosystem marks an effort to lower technological and procedural barriers for defence and government tech innovators, while aligning them with cloud and AI tools and resources required to serve complex national security requirements.