Some days ago The news was released Google has partnered with Saudi Aramco Development Co, a division of the state-owned Saudi Arabian Oil Co to provide cloud computing services to corporate clients in Saudi Arabia.
In the Google ad, it is mentioned that the new cloud region whose services will be resold by a branch of the Saudi Aramco oil and gas company, also two more regions are added for Chile and Germany.
The United Kingdom has joined the global network of regions of the Google Cloud platform, as part of a strategic alliance agreement signed between the company and Google Cloud.
Google Cloud to Establish and Operate a New Cloud Region in Saudi Arabia, while a new company will be formed after obtaining all necessary regulatory approvals to provide cloud solutions and services to commercial clients, with a focus on enterprises.
Google revealed that the new investment is the result of a 2018 memorandum of understanding with Aramco "to jointly explore the establishment of cloud computing services in the region."
“Based on this MoU, we reached an agreement in December 2020 and Google Cloud will now implement and operate a Cloud region in Saudi Arabia, while a local strategic reseller, sponsored by Aramco, will offer Cloud services to customers, with special emphasis on Kingdom companies ”.
According to Aramco, the collaboration is based on the growing demand for cloud services in Saudi Arabia, which "is expected to reach a potential market of $ 10 billion by 2030."
The increased reliance on online services during the covid-19 pandemic has further accelerated the shift to digital solutions.
"The implementation of Google Cloud services and infrastructure in Saudi Arabia will provide robust, reliable and flexible solutions to meet the growing demand for IT and cloud computing services," the company wrote in a post.
This year has been a very active year of expansion for large cloud providers, with AWS, Azure and Google aggressively expanding their presence in the data center around the world.
To close the year, Google Cloud announced a new set of cloud regions, what will he wear ongoing in the coming months and years. These new regions, which will have three availability zones, They will be located in Chile, Germany and Saudi Arabia.
Google hasn't said which cities in Saudi Arabia and Chile will host the facility. German users should also expect more details than Google's current statement that the new region "will complement our existing region in Frankfurt."
These regions join the regions of Indonesia, South Korea and the United States (Las Vegas and Salt Lake City) that were put into service this year, as well as the regions of France, Italy, Qatar and Spain that the company has also announced in the last twelve months.
An agreement signed at the risk of negative reactions from Googlers, who oppose business with the oil industry.
In total, Google currently operates 24 regions with 73 Availability Zones, not including the ones you just announced that are not yet active.
While Microsoft Azure is way ahead of the competition in terms of total number of regions (although some still lack Availability Zones), Google is now starting to do well even with AWS, which currently offers 24 regions with a total of 77 availability zones. In fact, with its 12 announced regions, Google Cloud could soon overtake AWS, which is currently working in six new regions.
However, the battlefield will soon shift away from these large data centers, with a new focus on peripheral areas close to urban centers, which are smaller than the full data centers currently operated by big cloud players. , but that allow companies to host their services even closer to their customers.
All of this clearly shows how much Google has invested in its strategy. of cloud computing in recent years. After all, for a long time, Google's cloud platform has lagged behind its competition.
Source: https://cloud.google.com