Ready for Google Cloud Next 2021? Here’s a Look at the Big News

Google Cloud Next 2021 rolls onto laptops and tablets worldwide on Tuesday. For the second year in a row, the event is taking place virtually because of COVID-19. Even so, that’s not stopping Google Cloud from announcing a raft of enhancements. Last week, the third-largest public cloud computing provider gave media a sneak peek into the changes CEO Thomas Kurian and other executives will discuss this week during Next 2021.

The core takeaway for managed service providers, value-added resellers, consultants, ISVs and other partners is that Google Cloud remains dedicated to the channel. All of the changes it’s announcing will, in some way, apply across the partner ecosystem.

Google’s Kevin Ichhpurani

“Google Cloud is a partner-first business,” said Kevin Ichhpurani, corporate vice president, global ecosystem at Google Cloud. “We’re committed to working with partners across all product areas and industries, to providing customers with choice, and to our goal of involving partners in 100% of customer engagements.”

Partner Deals Growing

Kirsten Kliphouse, North America president for Google Cloud, agreed. In the first half of this year, she said, “partners were involved in six times as many eight-figure deals as they were in 2018.”

Google Cloud’s Kirsten Kliphouse

The overarching reason? Organizations keep shifting to digital business models. Retailers are implementing more ecommerce. Health care institutions are adopting more telehealth. Manufacturers are deploying more smart resources. Those serve as just three examples of the ways enterprises, small businesses, nonprofits and governments are changing their strategies in the era of cloud. COVID-19, of course, has proven no small contributor to the pace of that change, but the shift was occurring prior to the pandemic.

Google Cloud is looking ahead to surging cloud demand — with the channel in mind. See our slideshow above to check out the additions and resources debuting this week at Google Cloud Next 2021.