Close
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
Read Down
Sign in
Close
Welcome!Log into your account
Forgot your password?
Read Down
Password recovery
Recover your password
Close
Search
Logo
Logo
  • Latest News
  • Big Data and Analytics
  • Cloud
  • Networking
  • Cybersecurity
  • Applications
  • IT Management
  • Storage
  • Sponsored
  • Mobile
  • Small Business
  • Development
  • Database
  • Servers
  • Android
  • Apple
  • Innovation
  • Blogs
  • PC Hardware
  • Reviews
  • Search Engines
  • Virtualization
More
    Home Cloud
    • Cloud

    Google’s Schmidt Tells Enterprises Don’t Delay Cloud Migrations

    By
    David Needle
    -
    March 9, 2017
    Share
    Facebook
    Twitter
    Linkedin
      google cloud next

      SAN FRANCISCO—With most of its product news slated for day two of its Google Cloud Next conference here, the opening keynote March 8 focused mainly on new customer announcements and the growth of the Google Cloud Platform.

      Google is widely considered the number three player in the cloud and a relative late-comer, trailing Amazon and Microsoft—a distant number two. Known primarily for its consumer services, Google has made major investments in cloud computing services for the enterprise.

      Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, had a blunt message for the enterprise: “Leave the infrastructure to us. Just go there—go to the cloud.”

      Schmidt admitted that as recently as a few years ago Google didn’t have a full cloud service offerings, but said that’s no longer the case. “We have the reference customers, the system integrators and partners like Accenture and PwC, solutions architects and professional services teams to help you,” he said.

      He also noted that Google has invested $30 billion in cloud computing. “I know, because I approved it.”

      While a full transition to cloud computing can take enterprises a year or two, Schmidt said Google is working to reduce that to one or two months. 

      Diane Greene, senior vice president of Google’s cloud business, recalled that Disney spoke at last year’s conference “when they were just dabbling in the cloud. Now they’re ahead of schedule. It’s a lift and shift to the cloud.”

      Michael White, Chief Technology Officer at Disney, said the entertainment giant is counting on the cloud to transform the way it develops software.

      “We currently have 500 projects in the cloud and we’re using it for all new apps. We’ve had the luxury of being able to re-architect our legacy systems for the cloud and we have a true partnership with Google.”

      R.J. Pittman, eBay’s chief product officer, gave the one live demonstration in the two-hour keynote, showing how eBay integrates with the Google Home device, a voice-activated assistant that competes with the Amazon Echo.

      He asked Google Home “What’s my camera worth?” Google Home responded with a few follow up questions about make and model and told him what it’s worth on the resale market.

      “We have tens of millions of sellers and this is going to bring more into the eBay marketplace. And there’s so much more to come,” said Pittman

      Pittman noted that eBay has more than 1 billion live listings and over twenty years of transaction data. He said eBay plans to encapsulate and capture all that knowledge using the GCP to build “the smartest catalog on the planet.”

      But while eBay is committed to the cloud, it’s also hedging its bets a bit. Pittman noted for example that everything it runs in the cloud is also running on a parallel back-up system. “We were smart about this. We didn’t just throw a switch. When you’re processing thousands of orders a second that is difficult to do.”

      He encouraged companies to be “cloud-first” when developing new apps. “Do not fear the cloud. It can be done,” he said.

      In a post-keynote press conference with GCP customers, competition with Amazon and Microsoft Azure came up. Darryl West, Global Group CIO at financial services giant HSBC, said his company is a big Microsoft shop and plans to continue to use Azure cloud services in some areas and has a pilot project using Amazon Web Services for developers.

      SAN FRANCISCO—With most of its product news slated for day two of its Google Cloud Next conference here, the opening keynote March 8 focused mainly on new customer announcements and the growth of the Google Cloud Platform.

      Google is widely considered the number three player in the cloud and a relative late-comer, trailing Amazon and Microsoft—a distant number two. Known primarily for its consumer services, Google has made major investments in cloud computing services for the enterprise.

      Eric Schmidt, Google’s chairman, had a blunt message for the enterprise: “Leave the infrastructure to us. Just go there—go to the cloud.”

      Schmidt admitted that as recently as a few years ago Google didn’t have a full cloud service offerings, but said that’s no longer the case. “We have the reference customers, the system integrators and partners like Accenture and PwC, solutions architects and professional services teams to help you,” he said.

      He also noted that Google has invested $30 billion in cloud computing. “I know, because I approved it.”

      While a full transition to cloud computing can take enterprises a year or two, Schmidt said Google is working to reduce that to one or two months.

      Diane Greene, senior vice president of Google’s cloud business, recalled that Disney spoke at last year’s conference “when they were just dabbling in the cloud. Now they’re ahead of schedule. It’s a lift and shift to the cloud.”

      Michael White, Chief Technology Officer at Disney, said the entertainment giant is counting on the cloud to transform the way it develops software.

      “We currently have 500 projects in the cloud and we’re using it for all new apps. We’ve had the luxury of being able to re-architect our legacy systems for the cloud and we have a true partnership with Google.”

      R.J. Pittman, eBay’s chief product officer, gave the one live demonstration in the two-hour keynote, showing how eBay integrates with the Google Home device, a voice-activated assistant that competes with the Amazon Echo.

      He asked Google Home “What’s my camera worth?” Google Home responded with a few follow up questions about make and model and told him what it’s worth on the resale market.

      “We have tens of millions of sellers and this is going to bring more into the eBay marketplace. And there’s so much more to come,” said Pittman

      Pittman noted that eBay has more than 1 billion live listings and over twenty years of transaction data. He said eBay plans to encapsulate and capture all that knowledge using the GCP to build “the smartest catalog on the planet.”

      But while eBay is committed to the cloud, it’s also hedging its bets a bit. Pittman noted for example that everything it runs in the cloud is also running on a parallel back-up system. “We were smart about this. We didn’t just throw a switch. When you’re processing thousands of orders a second that is difficult to do.”

      He encouraged companies to be “cloud-first” when developing new apps. “Do not fear the cloud. It can be done,” he said.

      He said HSBC’s challenge is to find who has the best cloud for what the company wants to do. “We have a hybrid cloud strategy,” said West, adding HSBC is using the GCP for data analytics where he thinks it’s strongest.

      Gartner analyst David Smith said that in some respect the big cloud players offer a similar value proposition—to transition from relying on and investing in on-premise infrastructure to less expensive cloud services that scale more easily. “But they have different core competencies. For example, Google leads in machine learning which it used to build so much of its business such as Google Maps,” Smith told eWEEK.

      He said that while Google trails Amazon and Microsoft with enterprise buyers, it doesn’t have to win over a lot of those current customers to succeed because so many companies have yet to transition to cloud computing.

      “There are a lot of legacy systems out there waiting to be replaced or shifted to the cloud and that’s where the opportunity is,” said Smith.

      “Google thinks differently than other enterprise vendors. Rather than try to completely solve a massive problem, they think in terms of planetary deployment on a wide scale that takes failures into account. And they claim to have the most security. That’s hard to prove, but it’s something that enterprise buyers take seriously,” Smith said.

      David Needle
      Based in Silicon Valley, veteran technology reporter David Needle covers mobile, bi g data, and social media among other topics. He was formerly News Editor at Infoworld, Editor of Computer Currents and TabTimes and West Coast Bureau Chief for both InformationWeek and Internet.com.

      MOST POPULAR ARTICLES

      Big Data and Analytics

      Alteryx’s Suresh Vittal on the Democratization of...

      James Maguire - May 31, 2022 0
      I spoke with Suresh Vittal, Chief Product Officer at Alteryx, about the industry mega-shift toward making data analytics tools accessible to a company’s complete...
      Read more
      Cybersecurity

      Visa’s Michael Jabbara on Cybersecurity and Digital...

      James Maguire - May 17, 2022 0
      I spoke with Michael Jabbara, VP and Global Head of Fraud Services at Visa, about the cybersecurity technology used to ensure the safe transfer...
      Read more
      Applications

      Cisco’s Thimaya Subaiya on Customer Experience in...

      James Maguire - May 10, 2022 0
      I spoke with Thimaya Subaiya, SVP and GM of Global Customer Experience at Cisco, about the factors that create good customer experience – and...
      Read more
      Cloud

      IGEL CEO Jed Ayres on Edge and...

      James Maguire - June 14, 2022 0
      I spoke with Jed Ayres, CEO of IGEL, about the endpoint sector, and an open source OS for the cloud; we also spoke about...
      Read more
      Cloud

      Yotascale CEO Asim Razzaq on Controlling Multicloud...

      James Maguire - May 5, 2022 0
      Asim Razzaq, CEO of Yotascale, provides guidance on understanding—and containing—the complex cost structure of multicloud computing. Among the topics we covered:  As you survey the...
      Read more
      Logo

      eWeek has the latest technology news and analysis, buying guides, and product reviews for IT professionals and technology buyers. The site’s focus is on innovative solutions and covering in-depth technical content. eWeek stays on the cutting edge of technology news and IT trends through interviews and expert analysis. Gain insight from top innovators and thought leaders in the fields of IT, business, enterprise software, startups, and more.

      Facebook
      Linkedin
      RSS
      Twitter
      Youtube

      Advertisers

      Advertise with TechnologyAdvice on eWeek and our other IT-focused platforms.

      Advertise with Us

      Menu

      • About eWeek
      • Subscribe to our Newsletter
      • Latest News

      Our Brands

      • Privacy Policy
      • Terms
      • About
      • Contact
      • Advertise
      • Sitemap
      • California – Do Not Sell My Information

      Property of TechnologyAdvice.
      © 2022 TechnologyAdvice. All Rights Reserved

      Advertiser Disclosure: Some of the products that appear on this site are from companies from which TechnologyAdvice receives compensation. This compensation may impact how and where products appear on this site including, for example, the order in which they appear. TechnologyAdvice does not include all companies or all types of products available in the marketplace.

      ×