Google Aims to Attract Startups to Cloud Platform

Google (GOOG) is interested in attracting startup companies to its cloud platform. The company last week launched a new program called Google Cloud Platform for Startups, which will provide eligible startups with access to $100,000 of funding for Cloud Platform credit, 24/7 support and access to the public cloud provider's technical solutions team.

"This offer is available to startups around the world through top incubators, accelerators and investors. We are currently working with over 50 global partners to provide this offer to startups who have less than $5 million in funding and have less than $500,000 in annual revenue. In addition, we will continue to add more partners over time," wrote Julie Pearl, director of developer relations at Google, in a blog post.

The new program was introduced at Google for Entrepreneurs Global Partner Summit by Urs Hölzle, senior vice president of Technical Infrastructure and Google Fellow.

As Pearl explained, "This offer supports our core Google Cloud Platform philosophy: we want developers to focus on code; not worry about managing infrastructure. Starting today, startups can take advantage of this offer and begin using the same infrastructure platform we use at Google."

With the new program, Google is hoping to draw more startup companies to its public cloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) offering. Considering the choice is today's market, it's not an easy sell, but the new credits program should enable Google to bring on new startup customers. In time, they could become regular customers.

For partners, it might open up a new revenue stream. Partners will have to view it as a long-term partnership to truly earn revenue, but it's a beginning for Google and its resellers.