Google Cloud Partners Say New Program Creates ‘Equal Playing Field’

‘What this partner program and new competency tiering does is it creates an equal playing field between a global GSI and a specialized partner like us,’ says Onix CEO Sanjay Singh.

Google Cloud partners are hailing the cloud giant’s new global channel program as a win for skilled, specialized partners to better compete against larger global system integrators (GSI).

“From a customer perspective, what this partner program and new competency tiering does is it creates an equal playing field between a global GSI and a specialized partner like us,” said Sanjay Singh, CEO of Onix, a top Google Cloud AI and data partner.

“Google is elevating the profile of partners who are doing specialized and very high-end execution work and transformation work,” said Singh (pictured above). “You can now review at a competency level and say, ‘OK, this partner is the best in the world for this particular area.’ So a partner can become relevant for a particular customers area very, very quickly. So it creates an even playing field.”

The new Google Cloud Partner Network, which went live today, has a competency framework that marks a fundamental shift in Google’s partner strategy.

The $61 billion Mountain View, Calif.-based cloud giant replaced its former partner specializations with a total of 21 new competencies with the goal of rewarding partners who achieve competencies for their deep technical and sales capabilities.

“Competencies are a great way to allow partners to differentiate and for customers to find what’s the right partner for their specific need—whether it’s in a specific area of data, in AI, security,” said Colleen Kapase, Google Cloud’s vice president channels and partner programs.

“Google keeps expanding our solution set,” she said. “So we need to make it easy for customers to find the right partners and for partners to differentiate.”

How Google Cloud’s New Competency-Based Program Works

There is a total of 21 new competencies that Google is launching this month including: six solution competencies, five product competencies and 10 industries competencies.

The new framework focuses on a partner’s proven ability to help customers, measuring two key dimensions: capacity and capability.

Capacity refers to knowledge and skills development, validated by technical certifications and sales credentials; while capability is real-world success, measured by pre-sales and post-sales contributions to validated closed or won opportunities.

Google partner Pythian says the new framework will help it win new customers as Google’s internal field and sales teams will push clients towards partners who obtain competencies.

“For more boutique partners like ourselves that are really focused on service differentiation—the competencies are huge,” said Pythian CEO Brooks Borcherding.

“For example, for ourselves, we don’t boil the ocean. We focus on data analytics, AI and Workspace. And the fact that we can now go and have a competency specifically around database—and around Oracle, for example —the fact that we’ve got this unique depth and breadth of skills around Google-Oracle Database and specific Google Cloud capabilities is exceptional,” he said.

“We’ve never really been able to do that before: take a competency to a customer and say in a co-sell motion, ‘Why go with Pythian? Because Pythian is an Advanced Analytics or Advanced AI partner,” Borcherding said. “I really think that’s going to benefit us tremendously.”

There are two types of competencies a partner can achieve: a baseline Competency and an Advanced Competency.

Google Cloud’s Advanced Competency signals a higher designation and skillset.

“It’s a measure of who’s doing some of this versus who’s doing it at scale with us,” said Philip Larson, managing director of worldwide partner programs at Google Cloud. “So it’s the same measuring metrics, but who’s doing it at a broader scale to earn the Advanced Competency.”

Competencies Are Applicable Globally, Not Just Regional

Partners said that Google’s new competencies being applicable globally is a huge benefit.

“In the past, I used to have to go to the U.S., and I had to go to Europe, and then I had to go to Asia, to Latin—that never really made sense for us, because we have a global delivery model, but they did kind of restrict us into applying [for specializations] within each of those geographies,” said Pythian’s CEO Borcherding.

“Now, it’s like a global competency, which is brilliant. So now I can kind of pool my competencies to work as a true global delivery company,” he said.

Onix CEO said it was sometimes tedious to get customer workloads and projects approved in different geographies from various stakeholders. “Now the system takes care of it automatically, so I don't need to spend time across different stakeholders to get these things approved,” Singh said.

Here’s Google Cloud’s 21 New Competencies

There is a total of 21 new competencies Google Cloud is rolling out.

The five product competencies are for Apigee, Chrome, Gemini Enterprise, Maps and Looker.

The six solution competencies are Artificial Intelligence, Application Modernization, Data and Analytics, Databases, Infrastructure, and Security.

The 10 industries competencies are cusiness and professional services; consumer packaged goods; financial services; healthcare and life sciences; logistics; manufacturing and industrial, public sector and education; retail and consumer, software and internet and telecom, media and gaming.

Partners Punching ‘Above Our Weight’

Thanks to Google Cloud’s new focus on partners who achieve competencies, which are standardized globally, both Onix and Pythian are bullish about 2026.

“So if Google’s sales and field team are looking for a partner in the internal Partner Hub for a particular customer engagement—they can decide which industry, what solution area, and what is the competency level—then they can pull the right partner into the mix for that particular opportunity,” said Singh. “So that bodes very well for us because we are one of the top partners in the data and AI areas.”

Borcherding said Pythian plans to distinguish itself versus the competition by achieving Google Cloud’s competences.

“That’s certainly my hope for this year is that we do get to punch a little bit more above our weight for some of these truly complex, technology-driven, services-driven opportunities,” Borcherding said. “I do expect that to be a significant move to our advantage.”