Google has relaunched its Google Cloud Partner Network in a big way, changing its focus from increasing raw sales numbers to building and nurturing partner success by rewarding positive customer outcomes using the company’s products and services.
The new program is based on a philosophical shift by the company,
Phil Larson, the managing director of partner programs at Google Cloud, told ChannelE2E.
“The market is moving at such an unpredictable pace that customers are looking to buy impact, not products,” said Larson. “That is why we rebuilt the program to pivot from volume to value, focusing on real-world outcomes rather than just resale numbers. This makes it much easier for customers, and our own field teams, to find the partner with the right expertise for the job.”
The changes arrived after hearing plenty of feedback from partners on the old program, said Larson.
“Our partners were loud and clear: they wanted to be recognized for the value they deliver, not just the volume they move. They asked for a way to differentiate their unique strengths, and they wanted more simplicity.”
In response, the entire partner program was reimagined using a new portal experience designed to act as the engine for partner growth, using new AI features as well as inspiration from existing tools such as the old program’s
Earnings Hub and the
SOW (Statement of Work) Analyzer, he said.
“We have infused AI into the core of the experience to strip away the ‘box-checking’ and administrative overhead,” said Larson. “By automating things like data input and earnings tracking, we are ensuring partners spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering results for customers. It is a huge boost for the entire ecosystem.”
The new program launched on January 15
after being announced in December in a blog post by
Colleen Kapase, vice president of channels and partner programs at Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
‘A New Way of Partnering’
“This is much bigger than just a program update,” said Larson. “It is a completely new way of partnering. We have spent over a year working alongside our partners, customers, and analysts to build this from the ground up.”
Instead of just adding new features to the old partner program, Google Cloud “wanted to fundamentally change the experience,” he said. “Our biggest priorities were stripping away the administrative burden, making it effortless for customers to find the right expertise, and creating a much simpler, more synchronized co-sell motion. We are moving away from ‘managing’ partners to truly ‘powering’ them to lead in the AI era.”
For partners, that will mean reducing administrative burdens so they can spend less time on paperwork and more time delivering results across customer service lifecycles, said Larson.
The reimagined program now has three new tiers for partners to earn: Select, Premier, and Diamond, while the former Specializations model is being replaced with a Competencies model, where partners can demonstrate Basic or Advanced levels of experience with products, industries, and services.
In addition, the new partner program is “clearly showcasing where our partners ‘play’ in their business models, whether that is through co-selling, services, or technology,” said Larson. “Each of these roles is extremely valuable, and we needed a way to signal those specific motions to our customers and our own field teams so they can find the exact expertise they need. Our new Diamond tier and 21 deep competencies give partners a way to signal where they truly shine and prove their experience.”
Partners can log into the new program today and will have nine months to earn and reach new tiers and competencies, according to Larson.
Keeping Pace With Competing Hyperscalers
Bill Dannenmaier, senior analyst covering North America partner programs for Omdia, said that the Google Cloud Partner Network changes follow partner program updates made by competing giants Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS).
“Microsoft increased requirements for partners, AWS added streamlined incentives and benefits for MSPs, so it is only fitting that GCP make an update as well,” said Dannenmaier. “My understanding is that this is not a last-minute change; this is something they have been working on for over a year.”
Dannenmaier said that Omdia has been seeing this trend across the technology industry.
“And with the focus on lifecycle comes a focus on attribution,” he said. “Partners want lifecycle incentives, but vendors must create ways to attribute the work done by partners along that path. And that is what is core to the new GCP program - creating ways to properly attribute the work done by partners.”
Google has also been working with its partners to understand how and when they complete co-sell activities, including workshops, assessments, and pilots, so they can ensure that partners receive program benefits for those tasks, he said.
“In this way, this opens partnering with GCP to a wider variety of partners outside of standard resale and services,” said Dannenmaier. “GCP is also tracking these activities and can understand which partners are performing well in spaces outside of just sales. And with this being data, that knowledge can be extended beyond the teams working directly with the partners.”
For partners, the new Google Cloud Partner Network may also offer some relationship security, he said.
“With the capabilities and tiering separate from one another, much like specializations are separate from partner tiers in other programs, I think the new third level will hopefully allow more partners and flexibility rather than limit partnership,” said Dannenmaier. “And with AI tooling and agents at the core of the program, I think GCP is preparing to handle a large volume of partners rather than cut down to a select few.”
Another analyst,
Jack E. Gold, president and principal analyst at J.Gold Associates, LLC, said that he sees the new partner program working toward the company’s goal of making things easier for partners, but added that there will also be significant benefits for the tech giant as well.
“Google is trying to simplify, but at the same time is looking to put partners into the tiers that make the most sense based on their sales leverage,” said Gold. “Partnership programs are not trivial from a resource-required perspective, and I suspect this is as much about making things simpler for Google and less resource-intensive as it is about making it simpler for partners. It also simplifies the program for Google to manage.”
