“Let’s go solving”
Google Cloud infrastructure consists of 24 regions with multiple zones. Today, Google officially opens its first region in Central and Eastern Europe and it’s seventh in Europe. It is the first major cloud provider to locate its region in Poland. The cloud region consists of three access zones, each of which has an independent technical and software infrastructure, enabling undisturbed operation of cloud services.
How it all started?
It all started in 2019 when Google partnered with Domestic Cloud Provider founded by the state owned bank PKO BP and the Polish Development Fund. They signed a cooperation agreement, by which Google invested nearly two billion dollars in infrastructure located in Poland.
Does it mean that only now Polish companies can start using Google Cloud? Definitely not. Google Cloud services were available for a long time already. What it actually means is developing an ecosystem around this investment in order to accelerate digital transformation of Polish businesses. Companies that are either in highly regulated industries, or those that prefer to have their data located in Poland, now don’t have to worry about that. Google cloud builds a solid foundation on which Polish companies can build their digital presence.
Various opportunities growth
On a technical level, the short network distance to the data center, means that highly critical, time sensitive solutions can be developed, deployed and run in an environment that will be ideal for this kind of application.
During the official opening, Sundar Pichai, the CEO of Google and it’s parent company Alphabet Inc., pointed out that opening of Google Cloud region in Poland is one of the most important projects in Central and Eastern Europe. In his opinion, the concentration of highly skilled professionals and entrepreneurs puts Poland in a very strong position for the future. He also pointed out that the main main European Engineering Center for cloud technologies is located in Poland, too.
It is also important to emphasise that Google has been investing in Poland for over fifteen years, said Thomas Kurian, the CEO of Google Cloud. He also pointed out that the Warsaw Region will enable organizations to access the best tools and the most innovative technologies. Among the benefits he mentioned — best in class technology for Data Analytics, Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence as well as Elastic Computation. Google becomes a trusted technology partner with whom companies can work locally, addressing the security and privacy needs based on local regulations. It also works with partners to address the skill gap, and is committed to work with startups and established companies to help stimulate innovation and economy.
Google Cloud’s mission
Additionally, the CEO of Google Cloud stated their mission is to “accelerate an organization’s ability to digitally transform their business with the best infrastructure, platform industry solutions and expertise”.
The cornerstone of Google’s offering is Infrastructure Cloud on which Google builds Data Cloud with it’s database solutions, Trusted Cloud with many security services like Cloud Armour, Threat Detection, Zero Trust BeyondCorp, and many more. The other pillar is People Cloud with unified collaboration and communication. Google also has a strong offering for specific industries like Retail, Healthcare, Financial services, Manufacturing, Suplain Chain, Media etc.
Plans for the future
Speaking about Google, we can’t forget that Microsoft also partnered with Domestic Cloud Provider to open its region in Poland. It’ll invest nearly two billion dollars. In a recent presentation, Paweł Jakubik, Board Member, PL Cloud & Digital Leader at Microsoft, confirmed that in the spring of 2022 Microsoft will finish construction work, and start populating the data center with infrastructure. The goal is to start serving Azure services in the summer, followed by Office 365 services, and the rest in the fall of 2022. So far, AWS or other major cloud providers like Oracle or IBM didn’t reveal any plans of such investments in Poland.
You can find the full event broadcast here.
Author: Jacek Bochenek, Cloud and Security Team Leader — CISSP, CISM, CCSP
jacek.bochenek@iteo.com
