# NoSQL> all your [NHS] base are belong to us (sic)

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When I read the news today that the [NHS had moved from an Oracle database to a NoSQL alternative](http://www.theregister.co.uk/2014/09/09/nhs_spin2_rips_out_oracle/ "NHS ditches Oracle for NoSQL") I remembered this comment made by Larry Ellison, founder and CEO of Oracle, when being asked how his company would respond to his competitors.

> “workday.. they don’t use a database. They use an object store so they can’t really do reporting” – Larry Ellison

This sounds like he may be fighting new wars with old rules. There are no silver bullets or magic pills when it comes to software solutions – there is often a compromise to be made. NoSQL provides a solution for distributed databases using low cost hardware [that is being adopted](http://www.datanami.com/2014/03/13/hadoop_and_nosql_now_data_warehouse-worthy_gartner/ "NoSQL now data warehouse ready") by modern cloud computing and big data services. Of course Larry makes a good point to reveal the weaknesses of his competitors but being different doesn’t mean deficient. The United States national health service site HealthCare.Gov might have had [site launch problems](http://gigaom.com/2013/11/25/how-the-use-of-a-nosql-database-played-a-role-in-the-healthcare-gov-snafu/ "HealthCare.gov site launch problems") because they did’t have the necessary skills to manage their NoSQL choice but the cat is out of the bag – “Not Only SQL” is an option [that is being embraced](http://imarketreports.com/oracle-profit-declines-though-revenue-edges-up.html "Oracle profits decline"). It will be interesting to see how the traditional database providers will respond.

PS: [Gov.UK is also on NoSQL](https://gds.blog.gov.uk/colophon-beta/ "Gov.UK colophon")