{"id":393624,"date":"2026-04-15T15:55:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393624\/"},"modified":"2026-04-15T15:55:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-15T15:55:11","slug":"google-cloud-to-invest-in-partner-expansion-globally-exclusive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/393624\/","title":{"rendered":"Google Cloud To Invest In Partner Expansion Globally: Exclusive"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cAs part of many partners\u2019 long-range plans or their strategic planning, they aspire to grow outside of either their region or two regions,\u201d said David Smith, Google\u2019s new global head of partner programs. \u201cWe need to embrace and understand those partners.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n Google\u2019s new partner programs<\/a> leader, David Smith, says he\u2019s \u201cjumping out of my seat\u201d in excitement to lead a global expansion charge for Google Cloud<\/a> aimed at both finding new partners in emerging markets and helping existing partners expand into new regions.\n <\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re going to be thoughtful and deliberate about investing globally, and we\u2019re going to intentionally be regionally aware so that we don\u2019t create one-size-fits-all partner programs,\u201d Smith, Google\u2019s worldwide head of partner programs, told CRN.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is really good for many of those smaller and medium-sized partners in some of these emerging markets that need us to really understand the localization needs and the needs of the unique buying patterns within that market,\u201d said Smith (pictured above). \u201cSo I\u2019m really excited about this.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Related: Google\u2019s New Partner Leader On Key Investments, Microsoft Worry And \u2018Enabling Partner Superpowers\u2019<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Smith has decades of channel and sales experience working at Microsoft for 27 years before Google<\/a> hired him in November. His roles at Microsoft included vice president of worldwide channel sales as well as vice president of worldwide SMB sales.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of global experience in my career. I\u2019m going to try to be thoughtful in being regionally aware or geo-aware,\u201d he said. \u201cThe whole world isn\u2019t like the U.S. or Canada or U.K. or France or Germany, which some might describe as mature markets.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google Cloud To Fuel Partners\u2019 \u2018Long Range Plans\u2019 For Expansion<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s push comes as Google rolls out its new flagship partner program, the Google Cloud Partner Network<\/a>, which is geared toward enabling partners of all shapes and sizes to differentiate themselves via specialized skills to better compete against larger solution providers.<\/p>\n

The new customer outcome-focused and AI-powered program moves away from tracking the work of channel traditional requirements\u2014such as business plans and customer stories\u2014and towards rewarding partners around pre-sales influence, co-innovation, post-sales support and customer success.<\/p>\n

Key to Smith\u2019s global expansion charge is partners being able to differentiate themselves and prove their Google technical expertise with the launch of 21 new competences this year. Additionally, there are two types of competences a partner can be awarded: a baseline Competency and an Advanced Competency badge.<\/p>\n

Smith said Google will help drive global expansion for partners who invest and obtain these new competencies, which proves they\u2019re ready for more co-selling opportunities and new customers.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs part of many partners\u2019 long-range plans or their strategic planning, they aspire to grow outside of either their region or two regions,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

For example, a partner based in the U.K. often wants to expand throughout EMEA or into the Americas, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to embrace and understand those partners. This is especially important for system integrators and ISVs that have unique capabilities around certain industries and verticals, because they need that multi-region scale,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIf they have the capability, we need to embrace that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s New Push \u2018Completely Changes Our Growth Potential,\u2019 Pythian CEO Says<\/p>\n

Google is also helping partners expand globally by eliminating regional certification requirements.<\/p>\n

Brooks Borcherding, CEO of Google Cloud Premier Services partner Pythian, said he \u201cloves\u201d this move and Smith\u2019s goal of helping Pythian enter new markets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the past, Google required partners to get certified in each region independent from other regions. This created significant challenges for smaller boutique system integrators like Pythian to comply, especially in new growth territories,\u201d said Borcherding (pictured below).<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n However, he said Google, \u201cnow recognizes the global credentials for regional SIs which significantly reduces the barrier to entry and allows us to more quickly and cost effectively enter new markets.\u201d\n <\/p>\n

Borcherding said he\u2019s excited to work with Smith and Google Cloud this year to boost its unique offerings around change management services focused on driving customer adoption of Gemini Enterprise and Gemini for Workspace, as well as its world-class Oracle Database@Google Cloud practice.<\/p>\n

\u201cDavid recognized our true distinction of skills and capabilities and has already helped to promote our specific superpowers through the Google field,\u201d Borcherding said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a homerun for partners and completely changes our growth potential,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u2018We Embrace The Local Partner Ecosystem\u2019<\/p>\n

In addition to helping existing partners enter emerging or new markets on a global scale, Smith said Google Cloud is also looking to recruit and onboard new partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe entrepreneurial spirit of a new Google AI partner forming in Indonesia or Mexico or in Japan\u2014it doesn\u2019t matter the market\u2014we embrace the local partner ecosystem that is forming within that geography just as much as any partner that wants to expand,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n

Google\u2019s partner ecosystem consists of tens-of-thousands of system integrators, MSPs, AI consulting firms, ISVs, resellers and end-to-end solution providers.<\/p>\n

Smith said his goal is to elevate every partner who is betting on Google Cloud to lead in the AI era.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you have the dynamic of both\u2014expanding existing partners and getting new partners in emerging markets\u2014you can really ensure that you\u2019re going to meet that customer opportunity, because that\u2019s the definition of success,\u201d Smith said. \u201cEspecially in emerging markets, the TAM is huge.\u201d<\/p>\n

Google Cloud generated a record $17.7 billion in revenue during the fourth quarter of 2025, representing a 48 percent increase year over year. Google\u2019s cloud business now has an annual run rate of $71 billion.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cAs part of many partners\u2019 long-range plans or their strategic planning, they aspire to grow outside of either…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":393625,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[345,343,54053,54051,54052,85,46,187186,125],"class_list":{"0":"post-393624","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-technology","8":"tag-ai","9":"tag-artificial-intelligence","10":"tag-cloud-channel-programs","11":"tag-cloud-platforms","12":"tag-cloud-software","13":"tag-il","14":"tag-israel","15":"tag-managed-service-providers","16":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393624","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=393624"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/393624\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/393625"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=393624"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=393624"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=393624"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}