In this vendor ranking segment from the Acceleration Economy course The Cloud Wars Top 10: How It Works, Why It Has Shifted, & How CXOs Use It, I share what differentiates Google Cloud, which is #2 on the Cloud Wars Top 10 ranking.
Highlights
Google Cloud leapfrogged AWS to land at #2 in the latest Cloud Wars rankings, even though AWS is 2.5 to 3 times larger than Google Cloud. The reasons include Google Cloud’s innovation, growth, CEO vision, and the ability to share that vision with customers.
- Google Cloud has landed multiyear deals with some of the largest companies in the world.
- CEO Thomas Kurian recognized early that the tools of the past won’t solve the problems of the future and made changes accordingly.
- Google Cloud’s #1 innovation is its barrage of generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including for Google Workspace and developer tools. Google Cloud’s generative AI is multiple times less expensive than its main competitor, according to Tony Safoian, CEO of Google Cloud partner SADA.
- Partnerships with SAP on data clouds and Mandiant on cybersecurity are also noteworthy.
What customers want from the cloud today is not necessarily what they wanted two or three years ago or what they will want in a couple of years. The cloud of tomorrow will be much more about software, business models, revenue models, engagement models, hiring and retaining people, and satisfying customers. As Google Cloud works toward its future, I recommend CEO Kurian think about how to make these distinctions between it and its competitors.
