Google Cloud’s Jim Anderson Talks ‘Ecosystem and Channel’ Changes

Google Cloud has undergone a lot of change since the beginning of this year, especially in terms of the idea of ecosystem and channel.

Notably, Kevin Ichhpurani replaced Carolee Gearhart as channel chief. His title, unlike Gearhart’s, contains that vital “ecosystem and channel” reference.

At the same time, Google Cloud made a commitment to combine its “ecosystem and channel sales teams into a single partner organization to bring a more streamlined go-to-market approach for our partners and customers.”

That was the word from Ichhpurani in January, when he further discussed Google Cloud’s plans to “more than double our spend” on partners over the next few years. Those efforts include more resources, incentives, co-marketing funds, and training and enablement as the world’s third-largest public cloud provider shifts toward an ecosystem mindset. This change holds industry-wide implications, something we’re exploring for upcoming coverage.

Google Cloud’s Jim Anderson

Still, Channel Futures wanted to better understand Google Cloud’s efforts to bring partners and direct teams together. To that end, we secured a Q&A with Jim Anderson. Anderson serves as managing director of the North America partner ecosystem and channels at Google Cloud.

Take a stroll through our slideshow above for our chat with Anderson to learn more about what recent ecosystem and channel changes at Google Cloud mean for partners.