Google Cloud has used its recent Google Next 2024 event to unveil new programs and opportunities to benefit its partner network, particularly around AI.
The most key of these is the new Generative AI Services Specialization, which is a certification for Google Cloud partners at a high level of technical capabilities.
Through it, Google will work with partners on Google-led gen AI projects, provide additional funding for gen AI assessment work, and provide access to deeper resources and marketing funds around AI.
The initial group of partners that have already achieved this level of specialisation includes several of Google’s biggest partners, including Accenture, Capgemini, Cognizant, Datatonic, Deloitte, Quantiphi, Searce, TCS, and Wipro.
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New features for partners
Other new features being brought to partners of all levels of expertise by Google, according to a Google blog post, include:
- New Generative AI Delivery Excellence and Technical Bootcamps, which will provide partners with tools, technology, and expertise to enhance their businesses with AI.
- A new user experience for Google’s Delivery Readiness Portal, which will simplify access to important resources for partners to ensure optimal delivery quality for customers.
- More advanced Challenge Labs in generative AI, which provide comprehensive labs that prepare engineers for common migration scenarios.
The local opportunity
In Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand, Google Cloud appointed Gary Denman as Head of Partners and Alliances in February of this year.
At the time of his appointment, Denman flagged that working with partners on AI would be a priority: “Our partners play a key role in helping businesses implement important technologies like AI, and I look forward to working alongside them to help our customers get the best from our solutions,” Denman said at the time.
“The topic of ‘How can we think about the impact of GenAI?’ is raised in almost every conversation,” Denman noted on LinkedIn previously. “Gen AI is so new, that it has to have reliable KPIs to measure its ROI. Gen AI is so new, it can be hard to figure out the right KPIs, though. Fortunately, Google Cloud has been helping customers build AI for years.”
Helping partners grapple with AI is increasingly the focus of work among the big vendors. Microsoft recently hosted its own AI event for partners, where it announced expansions to its partner programs to better align with the conversations they are having with its customers around AI.
