Google Cloud Next ’20: OnAir kicked off last week, this year, in virtual form thanks in large part to the novel Coronavirus, which has made it difficult for tech companies to host the typical in-person mega-conference which usually has a ton of pomp and circumstance surrounding the event.
Next ’20: OnAir, will continue for nine weeks as a digital event, and attendees can gain access via Google’s on-demand content. This year’s focus, and last week’s theme – updates on industry trends from Google Cloud executives.
This week, I’m told, will focus on productivity and collaboration so I assume you can expect some announcements surrounding product updates and new releases in the coming days. For now, I’d like to focus on what Google Cloud did announce last week at its first, and who knows? Last virtual conference?
BigQuery Omni
Google Cloud launched a new multi-cloud analytics offering called Big Query Omni. The solution harnesses Google Cloud’s hybrid and multi-cloud Anthos platform and lets users run the same database across multiple cloud environments.
Google Cloud users can now leverage its analytics platform through the lens of other public clouds without leaving the BigQuery user interface or taking any other actions such as copying datasets. It’s available in private alpha for Amazon Web Services’ Amazon Simple Storage Service (S3) users and support for Microsoft Azure will soon make its debut, according to the company.
Confidential VMs
Google Cloud also launched its first-ever offering from its new line of confidential computing products. The cloud services provider said Confidential VM, now out in beta for Google Compute Engine users lets you run workloads in Google Cloud and secure all data via advanced encryption.
Great for sharing sensitive data across networks while ensuring security, confidential computing is a solid solution for enterprises in industries that have to comply with regulations such as GDPR.
Assured Workloads for Government
Google Cloud introduced into beta ‘Assured Workloads for Government,’ a new offering set to “simplify the compliance configuration process and provides platform compatibility between government and commercial cloud environments.”
The program, slated for general availability this fall, helps government customers and contractors to meet security and compliance standards set by various U.S-based governing bodies. Once it does make its debut, customers can expect exceptional service, according to Google Cloud, as it will extend 24/7 US-to-US service, and plan to ensure 15-minute resolve times for calls.
I want to see what Google Cloud does this week in terms of collaboration and productivity. I expect it will shake up things a bit in the cloud market, particularly if Google releases new software to support the contact center division of Google Cloud, Google Contact Center AI.
At last year’s event, held in person, Google made several pivotal announcements that set the tone for the coming year and a slew of updates to its Contact Center AI platform including Agent Assist and updates to Dialogflow – the technology at the heart of Google’s Contact Center AI and its core technology for developing chatbot/interactive voice response (IVR) interfaces.
Today, Google Cloud conducts business in 24 regions, 73 time zones, and in over 200 countries with 144 network edge locations in operation.
