Google Cloud
Summary
Cloud computing infrastructure running on the same platform as Google's own services.
Parent organisation: Google / Alphabet
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go
Factors driving pricing: Additional features
Skills needed to set-up: Software developer
Skills needed to use: Software developer
Parent organisation: Google / Alphabet
Type of organisation: Publicly-listed company (or group)
Market share: One of the leading products (#3-7)
Pricing: Pay-as-you-go
Factors driving pricing: Additional features
Skills needed to set-up: Software developer
Skills needed to use: Software developer
Pros
Open Source alternatives available
Releases new features regularly
Clear data policies
Allows data export
Allows data deletion
Shares diversity data
Cons
Newsworthy business problems - Google Cloud cuts jobs in restructure, despite growth, Google CLoud makes strides but still has a long way to go
Newsworthy technical issues - Nurmerous short outages affecting various Google Cloud products
Newsworthy security breaches - Many breaches have been reported, though generally due to user error rather than failures by Google Cloud itself.
Lacks accessibility statement
Full Product Data Collection
Data collected January-February 2020
| Product name | Google Cloud |
| Product URL | https://cloud.google.com/ |
| Parent organisation | Google / Alphabet |
| Workflow category | Storage & archiving |
| Date product founded | 2008 |
| Product description | Cloud computing infrastructure running on the same platform as Google’s own services. |
| What type of company or organisation is the product owned by? | Publicly-listed company (or group) |
| Is the company profit-making? | Yes, profitable |
| How is this product funded? | Advertising, Subscriptions |
| What market share does the tool have? | One of the leading products (#3-7) |
| Is there an Open Source alternative in this product space? | Yes. OpenStack |
| When did the company last release new features? | December 2019: Additional maintenance controls for Cloud SQL |
| Have they shared details of the product roadmap? | No |
| Is there talk of the product raising further investment? | No |
| Is there talk of the product being acquired? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy business issues or challenges in the last 12 months? | Yes. Google Cloud cuts jobs in restructure, despite growth, Google CLoud makes strides but still has a long way to go |
| Is there a pricing model listed on the website? | Yes |
| How clear & transparent is this pricing model? | Partly: some pricing listed; must speak to salesperson to confirm |
| What is the range of prices offered? | Pricing varies by specific but is pay-as-you-go, with no termination fees or upfront costs. Discounts based on sustained use and committed use are available. |
| What factors drive higher pricing? | Additional features |
| What skills are needed to get this tool set up & usable? | Software developer |
| What skills are needed to USE this tool day-to-day? | Software developer |
| Does this tool use proprietary file formats for saving documents & outputs? | Cannot tell |
| Is the product reliant on 3rd-party APIs or interoperability to function? | No |
| Have there been any newsworthy technical issues in the last 3 years? | Numerous short outages affecting various Google Cloud products: e.g. Google Cloud is down, affecting numerous applications and services, Google Cloud’s bad month continues as Google Calendar sputters, As Facebook and Google’s cloud stumble Facebook denies attack on their service, Major BGP mishap takes down Google as traffic improperly travels to China |
| How clear is the Terms of Service for users (i.e. publishing customers)? | Technical, legalistic TOS |
| Does the product have a data collection & usage policy on its website? (Can be a GDPR statement)? | Yes, comprehensive. |
| Is their data policy “GDPR everywhere”? | Yes, GDPR compliant globally |
| Does the product require your audience to sign-in to use it? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| IF SIGN IN REQUIRED: Does audience sign-in use 3rd party platforms? | N/A not an audience-facing tool |
| Does the public product website mention how to export or transfer your data to another service? | Yes: Export/transfer publisher content, Yes: Export publisher metadata |
| Does the public product website mention how to delete your data? | Yes: for publisher data only |
| Have there been any newsworthy security breaches with this product in the last 3 years? | Yes. Many breaches have been reported, though generally due to user error rather than failures by Google Cloud itself. |
| Does the company have an accessibility statement on its website? | No / cannot find |
| Does the company release information on the diversity of the workforce? | Yes |