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.
