Pichai Promotion Bodes Well For Google Channel Partners

The promotion of Sandar Pichai to chief of all of Google's core products bodes well for the company's channel, according to one of Google's premier partners.

Doug Shepard, president of the Google Business Unit at Google Apps Premier Reseller Cloud Sherpas, told CRN he wasn't surprised to hear about Pichai's promotion. Based on Pichai's recent experience, Shepard sees the move as emblematic of Google's commitment to its enterprise business and the partner-centric model it fosters.

"His leadership and contributions to Google for Work really have been significant over the last two years," Shepard said of Pichai.

[ Related: Google Dumps 'Enterprise' Branding, Renames Business Products 'Google For Work']

"I think what it says is that they are continuing to strive for and streamline their management structure to enable and industrialize innovation in the product area," he told CRN.

Pichai's already considerable portfolio at Google got a lot bigger last week when CEO Larry Page asked him to take charge of Google's core product line as part of a managerial reorganization within the Mountain View powerhouse.

Pichai already ran Android, Chrome and Google Apps, with its recently rebranded enterprise offering, Google For Work. He now will also take the reins of research, search engine, advertising, social and all other main product lines.

Those deep roots in Google For Work led Shepard to conclude the personnel move could be a factor in further driving Google to build off its recent innovations in its cloud platform.

As the Android/Chrome/Apps leader, Pichai reported directly to Page. With the reorganization, he will continue to do so across a wider spectrum of products, while other Google senior managers will probably get less face time with the CEO.

"He's really a rising star inside of Google," Shepard said, a status that Google made clear over the past year by giving Pichai speaking platforms that significantly increased his public profile.

Pichai was a prominent speaker at Google's Atmosphere online summit and had another keynote slot in March at the company's partner summit.

Cloud Sherpas is excited to see Pichai take "deeper influence in shaping direction," Shepard said. "His deep knowledge of enterprise will balance the consumer side."

While Google doesn't break out financials for its enterprise cloud business, the company stated recently it's on the order of a billion-dollar business, according to Shepard.

"If Google For Work was an independent company, it would be one of the fastest growing, exciting companies in the Valley," he said.

PUBLISHED OCT. 27, 2014