Microsoft and Oracle have partnered to bring “Oracle database services running on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI)” to Azure datacenters.

Microsoft and Oracle are two of the leading cloud providers, although both companies lag behind market leader AWS. The two companies are teaming up to give customers the ability to run OCI on Azure servers.

“We have a real opportunity to help organizations bring their mission-critical applications to the cloud so they can transform every part of their business with this next generation of AI,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “Our expanded partnership with Oracle will make Microsoft Azure the only other cloud provider to run Oracle’s database services and help our customers unlock a new wave of cloud-powered innovation.”

“Most customers already use multiple clouds,” said Larry Ellison, Oracle Chairman and CTO. “Microsoft and Oracle have been working together to make it easy for those customers to seamlessly connect Azure Services with the very latest Oracle Database technology. By collocating Oracle Exadata hardware in Azure datacenters, customers will experience the best possible database and network performance. We are proud to partner with Microsoft to deliver this best-in-class capability to customers.”

The partnership is a win for both companies. Oracle, the king of database products, has lost customers who have migrated to competitors’ cloud offerings. By partnering with the second-largest cloud provider, Oracle offers customers a viable cloud migration path that keeps them using the company’s database products.

At the same time, Microsoft benefits by being the only other cloud provider to offer Oracle Cloud Infrastructure Database Services, setting it up to be a preferred option for Oracle customers looking to migrate to a more widely used cloud platform.

The significance of the partnership was not lost on the two tech leaders.

“It’s actually my first time in Redmond. It’s hard to believe,” Ellison said. “I waited until very late in my career to make the trip.”

“It took us 45 years, but here we are!” Nadella added.