Reduce Cost and Complexity by Shifting from MongoDB to Oracle Database 23ai

MongoDB has long been a popular choice for fast-moving teams thanks to its flexibility and developer-friendly approach. But over time, many organisations can run into data silos and rising costs, turning what at first may have been a ‘quick win’ into a hindrance to innovation.

Oracle Database 23ai and Autonomous JSON Database (AJD) provide a smarter path. Helping businesses consolidate data, cut costs, and deliver AI-ready insights, without losing the agility developers value.

With Oracle Database 23ai and Autonomous JSON Database (AJD), you can:

• Simplify your architecture
• Cut costs
• Unlock AI-ready analytics

Why MongoDB Creates Cost and Complexity

Many enterprises adopt MongoDB to accelerate agile projects. Initially, it works well, but as different teams create their own instances, the cracks begin to show. Each group ends up managing separate silos of data, which leads to duplication and growing integration overhead. Connecting these systems often requires complex, brittle syncing mechanisms that add more expense and effort.

Costs can also escalate quickly. Scaling with MongoDB Atlas or managing on-premises licenses introduces significant expense, particularly for larger deployments.

For example, a 2 VCPUs set up in MongoDB Atlas M30 tooling can cost around $400/month, while Oracle AJD offers equivalent capacity for about $200/month - cutting costs by half!

Seamless Compatibility with MongoDB APIs

Now, change can be difficult and off-putting for many developers, but Oracle has a clever feature to address this. Oracle’s Autonomous JSON Database comes with MongoDB API compatibility. This means you can keep using the same MongoDB drivers, tools, and commands your developers already know, but point them at an Oracle DB instead. Your app will still think it’s talking to MongoDB, but under the covers, it’s running on a fully autonomous Oracle database. It’s a great way of getting the best of both worlds, providing developers with the familiar experience of MongoDB combined with the performance and cost reduction of Oracle’s Autonomous database.

Migrating Made Simple

One of the biggest concerns when considering a move away from MongoDB is the risk of disruption. Business leaders worry about downtime, while developers worry about learning new systems. That’s why Oracle have designed the migration process to be straightforward and minimise these disruptions. You simply export your JSON data from MongoDB, import it into Oracle, and update your app’s connection string (pointing your app to the new DB). Plus, your existing developers’ skills won’t go to waste since MongoDB tools and drivers still work in Oracle, avoiding the need for retraining.

For organisations that want an extra layer of assurance, Oracle GoldenGate for MongoDB allows both systems to run side by side in real time. This means data is kept fully synchronised between MongoDB and Oracle, allowing you to test everything thoroughly before cutting over with no downtime!

Working with DSP adds another layer of reassurance. Our team has the expertise to move your MongoDB workloads to Oracle, hassle-free, so you can focus on innovation while we handle the infrastructure.

JSON Duality: The Game-Changer

Another useful feature that makes moving from MongoDB to Oracle Autonomous less daunting is JSON Duality. Normally, if you wanted to run analytics on JSON data, you would need to export it, reshape it, and load it into a separate relational system, which can be time-consuming, messy, and result in two versions of the same data.

JSON Duality simplifies this problem by allowing you to store your data once but work with it in two different ways (these being JSON documents and relational tables). This means developers can use JSON documents, just like they do in MongoDB, while the same data can be queried as relational tables, ready for BI reporting tools and analytics. The result is developers get the best of both worlds with JSON and SQL side by side, while allowing your business to turn the same data into real value through BI, analytics, and machine learning.

Make the Move Simple - Start with DSP

MongoDB has helped many organisations get projects off the ground quickly, but its costs and complexity grow as deployments scale. Oracle offers a smarter alternative, a platform that reduces costs, eliminates silos, and makes AI-ready insights available instantly.

At DSP, we specialise in helping businesses make that transition confidently. Our team has expertise in both MongoDB and Oracle technologies, enabling us to manage migrations end-to-end with minimal disruption. We handle the complexity so you can focus on what matters most to your business. 

Want to explore how Oracle Database 23ai can help you? Get in touch with our experts today to see what's possible.