With the dust just settling from Google Next ’19, let me just say, there is a lot to unpack. If you had a chance to read my preview blog last week, you will have seen that I had two questions going into Google Next, and wow, did they ever answer them.
Before the event I wanted to know if Google was helping its customers transform digitally, and not simply giving them a solution once the transformation was complete. Well, enter Google Anthos.
Anthos is a hybrid (and multi-cloud) application modernization platform. One that can take traditional virtualized apps, modernize them to a container-based architecture and keep them on-premises or move them to the cloud. And in the demo, it didn’t have to be Google’s cloud. Oh, the interface is also slick, easy to use, and spans both on-premises and cloud in the same console. If you have a chance, I highly suggest you check out a demo.
Why is Anthos a big deal?
- An “on ramp” for digital transformation: With the rise of the digital economy, business must squeeze all the value out of their data, or risk being passed by. This transformation includes modernizing the infrastructure to support a new, growing application development practice, or to support analytics or machine learning initiatives. These transformations are not easy, IT orgs easily get bogged down along the way and they need help. Google already has the analytics, the AI, and the Kubernetes capabilities in place (although they augmented those as well). Now, Anthos gives Google’s customers an easy-to-use on ramp, a path to the digital transformation super highway.
- Changing the hybrid cloud game: Google Anthos, along with other hybrid cloud solutions such as AWS outposts, represent a shift in how these cloud providers are approaching the data center. Not too long ago, the focus was on maximizing the value of their cloud offerings, while being willing to let established IT organizations come to the cloud at their own pace. Now, Google and AWS are taking their tech to the data center; easing the path to the hybrid cloud for their customers and pressuring traditional IT vendors on their home turf. For example, Anthos can help IT organizations modernize apps, in the data center, no cloud necessary. It will be very interesting to see how the traditional, on-premises vendors respond.
Anthos adds a necessary piece to the puzzle and extends Google’s offering into the data center. And I expect it is only the start of things to come.
What else stood out at Google Next?
- The Scale: There were over 35,000 registrations, up 50% over last year. That is a lot of people, and it is growing insanely fast. I expect Google Next will be a driving force in crafting the IT narrative moving forward.
- Google Cloud is Enterprise: Every customer that spoke during the keynote was an established enterprise, and a leader in their industry. The message is loud and clear, everyone can leverage Google cloud, even the massive, established enterprise.
- Support 12TB VMs: This got a tremendous round of applause at the event, and rightfully so. IT needs the ability to support larger database environments, and Google answered the call.
- New Archive Storage Service: Filling out the Google Cloud Storage portfolio with a low cost archive storage at $0.0012 per GB per month ($1.23 per TB per month). Google claims their architecture eliminates the high latency associated with other low-cost cloud archive storage offerings, which is critical given the increased demand for data access, often driven by the rise in analytics. IT organizations are warming up cold archives more often than ever before.
All in all, there were a ton of new announcements at this event, and I only hit some of the infrastructure-related high points. But the message was clear, Google Cloud is enterprise-level and the company is working tirelessly to lead the charge for digital transformation.
