Google Makes Moving VMware, SAP Workloads to Cloud Easier

Google is on a roll with cloud.

The third-largest public cloud vendor this week sealed two important deals — the first with startup CloudSimple, and the second with longtime enterprise resource planning provider SAP.

For enterprises, both initiatives make the process of moving cloud workloads to Google easier. For Google, working with CloudSimple and SAP stands to increase its cloud market share and, therefore, revenue. Overall, it appears Google Cloud is aiming to better position itself against behemoth rival Amazon Web Services.

In the case of CloudSimple, Google is taking what was a partnership and turning the relationship into M&A. CloudSimple provides environments that run on-premises VMware workloads such as ERP, CRM, Oracle, SQL Server and more, in the cloud.

Google’s Rich Sanzi

“Many enterprises are using VMware in their on-premises environments to run a variety of workloads,” Rich Sanzi, vice president of engineering at Google Cloud Platform, wrote in a blog. “We hear frequently from enterprise customers that they need a simple way to migrate those workloads to the cloud. To put it simply: They want to be able to run what they want, where they want, and how they want — so they can leverage existing investments with as little toil as possible.”

With CloudSimple and Google, a VMware workload will run the same as it does on site, but with the benefits of performance, elasticity and integration with key cloud services and technologies, Sanzi said. Along the way, customers do not have to worry about rebuilding existing VMware-based platforms.

“We believe in a multicloud world and will continue to provide choice for our customers to use the best technology in their journey to the cloud,” Sanzi wrote.

Guru Pangal, founder and CEO of CloudSimple, agreed.

CloudSimple’s Guru Pangal

“We are incredibly excited to be part of Google Cloud and look forward to accelerating our ability to help customers easily move their enterprise workloads to the cloud,” Pangal wrote in a blog.

Google didn’t disclose financial terms of the CloudSimple acquisition. CloudSimple also supports Microsoft Azure.

Meanwhile, similar to the thinking behind the CloudSimple buy, Google Cloud also just launched a new Cloud Acceleration Program to help SAP users shift to the cloud with ease. The program takes Lighthouse, the name of Google’s work with system integrators moving SAP clients to cloud, to the next level.

Google Cloud’s Rob Enslin

“Customers who participate in our Cloud Acceleration Program will gain new architecture templates, accelerators and SAP-focused support, in addition to partner-led assessment services, prototyping, and centers of excellence dedicated to SAP on GCP,” Rob Enslin, president of global customer operations at Google Cloud, wrote in a blog.

Enslin noted that a number of technology providers and ISVs are participating in the program, helping with code remediation, near-zero-downtime migrations and other services. Those participants include Accenture, Atos, Deloitte and HCL, all of whom have created Google Cloud-specific business units to help customers migrate key workloads and applications to Google Cloud. Those partners, along with Capgemini, DXC Technologies, Hitachi oXya, Infosys, NTT, TCS and Wipro, will create SAP Centers of Excellence for Google Cloud and provide new solutions to simplify SAP cloud migrations.

For example, Accenture built technology that migrates older data into cost-efficient data stores such as BigQuery. This reduces the client’s SAP HANA footprint and related infrastructure costs.

As another example, Wipro developed an SAP workload migration framework called “Safe Passage to GCP” that provides a minimally disruptive way to migrate to Google Cloud. The framework includes automated discovery, assessment, migration and maintenance of SAP landscapes on Google Cloud.

“By combining Google Cloud technologies with services and offerings from our partners, customers will benefit from greater innovation, operational efficiency, and risk mitigation along their cloud journey,” Enslin wrote.

A spokesperson for Google Cloud Platform was unable to provide channel-specific comment for Channel Futures regarding this week’s CloudSimple and SAP news.