Google Cloud is dead set on winning more channel mindshare and driving cloud sales through its “secret sauce” approach to partnering that is transforming customers, says global channel chief Kevin Ichhpurani.

“This is the ticket to becoming a higher value provider. This is the ticket to earning high margin services,” said Ichhpurani (pictured), corporate vice president of Global Ecosystem and Channels at Google Cloud, in an interview with CRN. “Because when you’re driving this kind of impact, the dollar amounts you charge for your services and the margins are much higher.”

The roughly $24 billion cloud giant has created networks of partners it dubs “industry value networks,” bringing together all types of technology and software companies alongside channel partners of all shapes and sizes

Working all together, they deliver what Ichhpurani calls “transformation cloud,” which aims to solve customers’ largest pain points while also transforming their business.

“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.”

Ichhpurani: This Is ‘Where The Puck Is Going’

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Cloud generated nearly $6.3 billion in revenue for its second quarter 2022, representing year-over-year growth of 36 percent.

In its first quarter, the company generated $5.82 billion in total sales, up 44 percent year over year.

Ichhpurani attributes Google Cloud sales momentum to the company’s innovation and ecosystem of Google partners helping customers transform their business, such as by better leveraging data analytics and artificial intelligence (AI).

“If you look at what customers are doing today, they’re using analytics and AI to change their business process or invent a new business model,” said Ichhpurani.

“They’re not just moving VMs to the cloud, but they’re modernizing those applications to support a new business process,” he said. “Data and AI and app modernization are where the puck is going—and it’s the sweet spots of Google Cloud.”

In an interview with CRN, Ichhpurani takes a deep dive into Google Cloud’s unique channel strategy and market vision to win cloud market share via partners, as well as opportunities ahead with Mandiant.