5 Ways Google Cloud Differs From AWS, Microsoft: Channel Chief

With Google Cloud’s Partner Advantage program now at 90,000 partners strong, channel leader Kevin Ichhpurani is bullish that his company can steal cloud market share from rivals Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure through its differentiated partnering strategy.

“Some of our competitors do not acknowledge multi-cloud,” said Ichhpurani, Google Cloud’s worldwide channel leader. “But if we look at survey data, the vast majority of clients are going multi-cloud.”

Google Cloud launched new partner incentives and programs last week at Google Cloud Next 2022 including a new net logo incentive pushing partners to win over customers from cloud and on-premises rivals.

[Related: Google Cloud Seeing ‘Significant’ VMware ‘Momentum’]

Ichhpurani said the Mountain View, Calif.-based company is leveraging Google partners as the tip of the spear now more than ever before.

“Across all partner types, we’re getting many of the largest companies in the world adopting Google Cloud,” he said.

Google Cloud Momentum

Google Cloud generated $6.3 billion in total sales for its recent second-quarter 2022, up 36 percent year over year. In its first-quarter 2022, the company captured $5.8 billion in revenue, representing a 44 percent sales spike year over year.

Google Cloud’s annual run rate now sits around $24 billion in revenue.

Ichhpurani spent over a decade at SAP from 2004 to 2016 in executive roles, including executive vice president of SAP’s business development global ecosystem. He joined Google in 2017 and is currently corporate vice president of global ecosystem and channels at Google Cloud.

When asked why partners should go with Google Cloud compared with AWS and Microsoft, Ichhpurani provided several reasons.

“The secret sauce is we are the transformation cloud for the industry,” Ichhpurani said. “And that is why partners are flocking to us right now.”