Amazon will soon stop using Oracle software for database management

Amazon has taken another step toward eliminating software from Oracle that has long helped the e-commerce giant run its retail business.

An executive with Amazon's cloud-computing unit hit back at Oracle Executive Chairman Larry Ellison, who ridiculed the internet giant as recently as last month for relying on Oracle databases to track transactions and store information, even though Amazon sells competing software, including Redshift, Aurora and DynamoDB.

Amazon's effort to end its use of Oracle's products has made new progress, Andy Jassy, the chief executive officer of Amazon Web Services, tweeted Friday.

"In latest episode of 'uh huh, keep talkin' Larry,' Amazon's Consumer business turned off its Oracle data warehouse November 1 and moved to Redshift," Jassy wrote. By the end of 2018, Amazon will stop using 88% of its Oracle databases, including 97% of its mission-critical databases, he added. 

Since becoming a major provider of cloud computing, Amazon has moved to toss out its Oracle software. It has been a slow process, reflecting the difficulty of transitioning high volumes of data to new systems -- despite Amazon's own databases and large resources.

SAP SE, a database and applications vendor, is another rival trying to separate itself from Oracle. SAP has bought multiple companies that run on Oracle products and is still in the process of moving the subsidiaries to SAP's own software.