What SD-WAN and SASE requirements apply to retail organisations?

Retail SD-WAN deployments must address PCI DSS 4.0.1 compliance, distributed store connectivity, peak trading resilience, and transaction continuity across high street and online operations. SASE adds consistent security policy enforcement across all store locations.

How do I choose an SD-WAN vendor for a retail network?

Retail SD-WAN procurement should prioritise PCI DSS compliance support, store connectivity uptime, multi-site management, and peak load resilience. Use the Netify Retail SD-WAN RFP Framework to evaluate 30+ vendors against retail-specific criteria.

What SD-WAN and SASE requirements apply to manufacturing organisations?

Manufacturing SD-WAN deployments must address OT/IT network convergence, IEC 62443 compliance, production floor segmentation, and multi-site connectivity across factories and distribution sites. SASE adds Zero Trust access controls for remote OT monitoring and third-party vendor access.

How do I choose an SD-WAN vendor for a manufacturing network?

Manufacturing SD-WAN procurement should prioritise OT protocol support, production network segmentation, IEC 62443 alignment, and resilient multi-site WAN. Use the Netify Manufacturing SD-WAN RFP Framework to evaluate 30+ vendors against these criteria.

How do I compare SD-WAN vendors in the UK?

The Netify UK SD-WAN Comparison tool scores 30+ SD-WAN and SASE vendors using an algorithmic methodology covering technical capability, UK market presence, deployment complexity, and support quality. Results are vendor-neutral and updated for 2026.

What is the best SD-WAN provider in the UK?

There is no single best SD-WAN provider for all UK organisations. The right choice depends on your site count, existing infrastructure, security requirements, and budget. The Netify SD-WAN Comparison scores vendors across these criteria to help you identify the best fit for your specific needs.

How much does SD-WAN cost in the UK?

SD-WAN pricing in the UK varies significantly by vendor, deployment model, site count, and bandwidth requirements. Use the Netify SD-WAN Comparison and RFP Builder to gather structured pricing from multiple vendors and compare on a like-for-like basis.

What is an SD-WAN RFP?

An SD-WAN RFP is a structured procurement document used by enterprise IT and network teams to evaluate SD-WAN vendors and managed service providers against standardised technical, commercial, and operational criteria. The Netify SD-WAN RFP Framework provides a vendor-neutral evaluation methodology.

What should an SD-WAN RFP include?

An SD-WAN RFP should cover WAN architecture and underlay requirements, application performance and QoS, Zero Trust and security integration, deployment model, multi-site management, SLA commitments, and commercial terms. The Netify framework standardises these criteria across 30+ vendors.

How many SD-WAN vendors should you include in an RFP?

The Netify SD-WAN RFP Framework recommends shortlisting 3-5 vendors for a structured RFP process. Netify's marketplace provides access to 30+ curated SD-WAN and SASE vendors with algorithmic matching to identify the best fit for your requirements.

A SASE RFP is a structured procurement document used by enterprise IT teams to evaluate Secure Access Service Edge vendors against standardised technical, security, and commercial criteria. The Netify SASE RFP Framework provides a comprehensive evaluation methodology.

How many vendors should you include in a SASE RFP?

The Netify SASE RFP Framework recommends inviting 3-5 vendors to respond to a structured RFP, allowing meaningful comparison without overwhelming evaluation teams.

What should a SASE RFP cover?

A comprehensive SASE RFP should evaluate vendors across architecture, security integration, deployment model, compliance alignment, commercial terms, and ongoing support using a standardised framework.

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Review | Netify Marketplace

Cloud · Enterprise · Database

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Review

Oracle Corporation is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas, best known for its enterprise database software and cloud infrastructure platform. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is Oracle's public cloud platform, delivering IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS services with a particular differentiation around high-performance computing, enterprise database workloads, and AI/ML infrastructure. OCI distinguishes itself from AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud through its second-generation cloud architecture, dedicated Oracle Database Service (Autonomous Database), and competitive networking pricing — with no egress charges between OCI regions. Oracle has been a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Cloud Platform Services.

Enterprise Database

No Egress Fees

OCI Architecture

Austin, TX

Quick Facts — Oracle

Category	Detail
Full company name	Oracle Corporation
Headquarters	Austin, Texas, USA
Founded	1977
Stock	NYSE: ORCL
Primary product	Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI); Oracle Autonomous Database; Oracle Applications (SaaS)
Architecture	Second-generation cloud architecture; dedicated bare metal and virtual machine instances; 100Gbps inter-node RDMA networking
Global regions	50+ OCI regions and availability domains worldwide (expanding)
UK regions	UK South (London) and UK West (Newport, Wales)
SASE capability	None native — Oracle does not offer SD-WAN or SASE products; Oracle Access Governance and Identity provides identity-layer security
SD-WAN capability	None — OCI does not offer a native SD-WAN product
Target market	Enterprise; particularly Oracle database and applications customers; AI/ML workloads
UK channel	Both — direct enterprise and partner network
Gartner position	Leader — 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Cloud Platform Services

What Netify Thinks

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is a technically strong cloud platform with meaningful differentiators — particularly for Oracle database and application workloads, and for organisations with high-performance computing or GPU-intensive AI/ML requirements. Its second-generation architecture and no-egress-fee pricing model provide genuine commercial advantages over AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud in specific workload profiles.

Strengths

Oracle Autonomous Database: OCI's Autonomous Database provides a self-managing, self-securing, self-repairing database service that automates patching, tuning, and backups. For organisations running Oracle Database workloads, this delivers meaningfully lower database administration overhead than equivalent offerings on other hyperscalers.
No inter-region egress fees: Oracle does not charge for data transfer between OCI regions, and offers competitive egress pricing to the internet. For organisations with data-intensive workloads that move large volumes between cloud regions or to on-premises infrastructure, this can result in substantial cost savings versus AWS or Azure.
High-performance compute for AI/ML: OCI's bare metal compute instances, dedicated cluster networking with 100Gbps RDMA, and GPU infrastructure (including NVIDIA H100 clusters) position it competitively for AI training workloads, particularly for enterprises already standardised on Oracle software.
Existing Oracle customer advantage: Organisations with existing Oracle software licences (database, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, Siebel) can leverage BYOL (Bring Your Own Licence) on OCI at a meaningful cost advantage versus running Oracle workloads on AWS or Azure under Oracle's cloud licensing policies.

Weaknesses

Smaller ecosystem than AWS or Azure: OCI has a smaller third-party software and services ecosystem than AWS or Azure. Organisations dependent on broad third-party ISV integrations or seeking a wide range of native cloud services may find OCI's catalogue less extensive.
No native SD-WAN or SASE: Oracle does not offer SD-WAN or SASE products. Organisations evaluating OCI as part of a network and security transformation must source SD-WAN and SASE from separate vendors. Oracle's inclusion on the Netify marketplace reflects its role as a cloud platform relevant to organisations also evaluating network transformation, not as an SD-WAN or SASE vendor.
Primarily relevant to Oracle workloads: OCI's differentiation is strongest for Oracle database and application workloads. Organisations without an existing Oracle footprint may find less compelling differentiation compared to the broader ecosystem and geographic coverage of AWS or Azure.
Regional coverage: While OCI operates 50+ regions, its coverage density is lower than AWS (33 regions, 105 availability zones) or Azure (60+ regions). In some secondary markets, OCI may not offer equivalent data residency options.

Verdict: Oracle Cloud Infrastructure is best suited to enterprise organisations with significant Oracle database and application estates that want to reduce licensing costs, improve database performance, and leverage BYOL advantages on a cloud platform architected specifically for Oracle workloads. It is not an SD-WAN or SASE vendor.

Pros & Cons

Pros

Oracle Autonomous Database — self-managing, self-securing, self-repairing
No inter-region egress fees — significant cost advantage for data-intensive workloads
Second-generation cloud architecture with 100Gbps RDMA networking
BYOL advantage for existing Oracle licence customers
Competitive GPU/AI infrastructure (NVIDIA H100 clusters)
Leader in 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Cloud Platform Services
UK regions: London (UK South) and Newport, Wales (UK West)

Cons

No native SD-WAN or SASE capability
Smaller third-party ecosystem than AWS or Azure
Primarily compelling for Oracle workloads — less differentiated for non-Oracle environments
Lower regional coverage density than AWS or Azure in secondary markets
Limited UK/European public sector certification depth vs Azure

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure?

Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) is Oracle's public cloud platform, delivering IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS services with a particular focus on enterprise database, AI/ML, and high-performance computing workloads. Oracle is headquartered in Austin, Texas, and has operated cloud services since 2016. OCI operates 50+ regions globally, including UK South (London) and UK West (Newport, Wales). Oracle is a Leader in the 2024 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Strategic Cloud Platform Services.

How does Oracle Cloud pricing compare to AWS and Azure?

OCI differentiates on pricing through: (1) No inter-region data transfer charges — unlike AWS and Azure, moving data between OCI regions is free; (2) Competitive internet egress pricing — OCI charges approximately $0.0085/GB for outbound data, significantly below AWS ($0.09/GB) or Azure for equivalent volumes; (3) BYOL (Bring Your Own Licence) — existing Oracle licence customers can run Oracle Database, Middleware, and applications on OCI at substantially lower cost than running Oracle software under cloud licensing on other platforms. Compute, storage, and networking pricing is broadly competitive with AWS and Azure on like-for-like comparisons.

Is Oracle Cloud Infrastructure suitable for UK deployments?

Yes, with appropriate workload considerations. OCI operates two UK regions — UK South (London) with multiple availability domains, and UK West (Newport, Wales) as a paired disaster recovery region. UK-relevant certifications include ISO 27001, ISO 27017, ISO 27018, PCI DSS, and SOC 1/2/3. For UK-regulated sectors including financial services and healthcare, OCI's UK regions provide in-country data residency. UK organisations with existing Oracle software estates should engage Oracle's UK enterprise sales team to model BYOL cost advantages.

Does Oracle offer SD-WAN or SASE?

No. Oracle Cloud Infrastructure does not offer SD-WAN or SASE products. Oracle provides cloud networking services including Virtual Cloud Network (VCN), FastConnect (dedicated private connectivity equivalent to AWS Direct Connect or Azure ExpressRoute), and Load Balancing — but these are cloud networking primitives, not SD-WAN or SASE solutions. Oracle's identity and access management (Oracle Access Governance) provides some identity-security capabilities, but Oracle is not positioned in the enterprise SD-WAN or SASE market. Organisations deploying OCI should source SD-WAN and SASE from dedicated vendors on the Netify marketplace.

Include Oracle in your SASE RFP

Use the Netify RFP Builder to build a structured, vendor-neutral SASE RFP and receive competitive bids.

Build Your SASE RFP