Cloud computing is an important force in the modern IT field with most organizations benefiting from the Cloud in some way, either directly or through vendors. When deploying any part of your technology stack to the Cloud, you need to choose an appropriate provider. For many businesses, choosing the Google Cloud Platform (GCP) should be a serious consideration.
What Is the Google Cloud Platform?
As the name suggests, GCP is Google’s Cloud computing solution. It is a direct competitor to Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, which together have around a 58% market share for Cloud computing in 2021.
GCP includes numerous Cloud solutions ranging from virtual machines and databases to content delivery networks, all of which are provided through Google’s global technology footprint.
Benefits of the Google Cloud Platform
Although the Google Cloud Platform has a smaller market share than either AWS or Microsoft Azure, it’s still a major player in the field. Furthermore, there are some significant advantages to choosing GCP over other providers.
1) Better Pricing Than Comparable Competitors
Typically, GCP customers are able to get significantly better pricing than those using AWS or Azure. Some cost comparisons put the monthly price for a reasonably specced VM at about a third of the price of a comparable instance from Amazon or Microsoft. While the price difference can vary significantly depending on what you need from your Cloud provider, the results tend to be consistent; the Google Cloud Platform is less expensive than its main competitors.
2) Live Migrations
Migrating virtual machines is an essential element of maintaining any Cloud solution. Google’s structure allows their VMs to be migrated without pausing. This gives Google engineers the ability to address issues such as patches, software updates and hardware repairs without the need for any downtime. For similar reasons, GCP persistent disks can also be resized without downtime. More uptime is always good news in IT.
3) World-Class Security
Although Amazon and Microsoft are no slouches when it comes to security, Google has been a major innovator in this field. GCP uses the Google security model that protects Gmail, Google Apps and more. Built on more than 15 years of experience protecting customer data, this end-to-end security process is serious business. Google employs more than 500 full-time security professionals to ensure the GCP and other products are protected at every layer.
4) Easy Up and Down Scaling
One major reason organizations move to the Cloud is to harness the ability to scale easily. All Cloud providers try to make it as easy as possible to up-scale your solutions. However, the Google Cloud Platform is unique in how easy it is to down-scale. If you need to cut back on a particular service, you can make that change almost as easily as you can scale it up. For example, this makes it simple for a business with a high seasonal demand to expand their Cloud footprint for a month or two without paying for it all year long. For businesses that want to harness Cloud cost optimization, that’s a big bonus.
5) Superior Global Network
All major Cloud providers understand the importance of a private network backbone. For lightning-fast Cloud performance, it’s essential that internal Cloud communication is not competing with internet traffic and Google is leading the pack. All the data centers communicate with each other using Google’s private global fiber and tiered network. Google has made significant investments in global networking infrastructure to ensure it has dedicated access to an enormous amount of bandwidth.
6) Commitment to the Environment
While being eco-friendly is likely not the first competitive advantage that comes to mind when selecting a Cloud provider, it’s one of the noteworthy benefits of the Google Cloud Platform. Google claims its data centers use half as much energy as a typical data center. Additionally, wherever possible, they use 100% renewable energy for their data centers. As more businesses and consumers are thinking about environmental impacts, choosing an eco-friendly provider can be a wise business decision.
Assembling the Right Cloud Team
Whether they are using Google Cloud Platform or any other service provider, organizations increasingly need IT professionals who understand the Cloud deeply. As a result, businesses are looking for experts who have included a range of Cloud computing courses in their IT training and certification. Those IT professionals can now improve their skill levels, whether a beginner or expert, making them invaluable assets for any company using the Google Cloud Platform.