Item: Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing
Rating: 9
Author: Lisandro Fernigrini

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I started using Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing a few months ago, to host a small APEX app designed and developed by me to track pending/ongoing tasks. Right now I'm the only real user of the application, but a couple of colleagues have started testing it to include their tasks on it, and they will probably start using the app (with some changes and enhancements) in the short term.

Pros and Cons

Quick and simple to deploy (less than 5 steps to create a new instance)
No administrative tasks (backup, re-sizing) required

None significant to be mentioned

Return on Investment

Using the free tier allows me to develop and test the APEX app with no cost.
Changing it from a single-user to a department tool is simple.

Alternatives Considered

Azure SQL Database

Both Azure SQL Database and Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing offer a powerful and robust database platform. The advantage of Autonomous Transaction Processing is the ability to host APEX applications for free and without any special/complicated deployment or configuration process. Having a rapid development environment embedded for free was the main advantage for choosing Oracle as my cloud database provider.

Key Insights

Do you think Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing delivers good value for the price?

Yes

Are you happy with Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing's feature set?

Yes

Did Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

As with any cloud service, the main advantage of Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing is the ability to scale up (and down, if required), thus reducing initial costs. You can start with a simple 1 CPU and 20Gb instance for free, and scale up to meet your requirements with some simple clicks. You do not have to worry about administrative tasks (OS installation and configuration, storage provisioning, software installation/upgrade, maintenance, etc.).

Products Replaced

Key Differentiators

Price
Product Usability

Having the chance of deploying APEX applications was the most important factor to choose Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing over other cloud based databases.

Since this is a personal development that may be used by some areas of our development center, the chance of using it for free (with Oracle Cloud Free Tier) was also a main factor taken into account.

Evaluation Lessons Learned

Actually, I do not think I would change anything.

Usability Pros and Cons

Pros	Cons
Like to use Relatively simple Easy to use Technical support not required Well integrated Consistent Quick to learn Convenient Feel confident using Familiar	None

Easy Tasks

Database creation / deployment is quick and simple
APEX configuration is simple and quick

Difficult Tasks

I did not find anything too complex to perform.

Mobile Interface Availability and Impressions

Yes, but I don't use it

Usability

You get almost all the features of Oracle Database, including the ability to deploy APEX applications, without having to worry about system, storage or database configuration and maintenance, backups, etc. Also, you can start for free and move up adding resources as you need.

Really autonomous and free!

Overall Satisfaction with Oracle Autonomous Transaction Processing