Google Cloud Bulks Up Security Features, Services
Cloud provider unveils new, expanded partnerships with vendors, channel players
Google Cloud is putting a focus on security, announcing a host of new and expanded partnerships Monday with a broad range of cybersecurity vendors and security systems integrators and MSPs in a continuing effort to woo enterprise customers.
The Lowdown: The myriad partnerships bring with them added capabilities and services that Google Cloud, a distant third in the fast-growing public cloud market behind Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure, will incorporate into its portfolio.
The Details: The partnerships with cybersecurity vendors include:
> McAfee, Palto Alto Networks, and Qualys: A new cloud solution around agent-based endpoint security and vulnerability management automatically and at scale. Also with Palo Alto, expanded use by the vendor and joint solutions for Anthos and threat detection. With McAfee, integration of the company’s Mvision Cloud with Google Cloud.
> Citrix Systems: Citrix Workspace platform available on Google Cloud, including integration with G Suite for single sign-on, multi-factor authentication, web filtering, and analytics.
> Exabeam: Expansion of its security incident and event management (SIEM) platform on Google Cloud.
> ForgeRock: Putting its digital identity platform on Google Cloud.
> Fortinet: Making its FortiWeb Web Application Firewall (WAF)-as-a-Service and integrating its service with Google Cloud Security Command Center.
> Semperis and StealthBits: For managing, auditing, and protecting Microsoft Active Directory-based applications on Google Cloud from outages, attacks, and data breaches.
> Tanium: Integrating the vendor’s endpoint security telemetry with the Backstory platform from Alphabet-founded security company Chronicle for endpoint visibility.
On the partner side:
> Deloitte: New offerings for end-to-end risk mitigation services and solutions for protecting against cyberthreats to their cloud services.
> IBM Security: Consulting and managed services for Google Cloud customers for developing, enforcing, and managing security in hybrid cloud and multicloud environments.
> Wipro: Consulting, architecture design, digital transformation, and other security services.
> Arctic Wolf: The security operations center (SOC) provider will make managed detection and response services wavailable to Google Cloud customers.
> Comm-IT: Extended support to Google Cloud users.
> Cyderes: Supporting Chronicle Backstory for analyzing security telemetry data without making customers add more hardware or management duties.
> Optiv: New solutions for reducing security risks as enterprises migrate to the cloud, including expanding its Security Architecture Assessment Services and adding new services around identity, device, and data management.
The Impact: Security continues to be a key barrier to cloud adoption. A survey released this year by security vendor Ping Identity found that 43% of IT professionals said security was the top obstacle to the cloud, with 37% saying it was the chief concern for Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) adoption. Enterprises and SMBs are continuing to look to the cloud providers themselves, as well as channel partners, to ensure the security of their workloads and data in the cloud rather than providing security themselves.
Background: Google Cloud officials see growing the enterprise customer base key to gaining traction against AWS and Azure, and security is an important part of attracting those enterprises.
The Buzz: “Security of data is top-of-mind for every customer today, whether they run on-premises or within a single or multi-cloud environment,” said Kevin Ichhpurani, corporate vice president of global ecosystems at Google Cloud. “We’re delighted to expand our work with Palo Alto Networks to deliver best-in-class security products and solutions to help customers run their most critical workloads in the cloud, confidently and securely.”
“We are excited to partner with Google Cloud to help customers secure their cloud journey,” said Rahul Sood, senior vice president of Prisma Cloud at Palo Alto. “By partnering with Google Cloud to deliver a jointly developed security framework for multicloud environments and the new integration for threat intelligence, we will simplify how customers secure their cloud-native environments, whether they are single or multicloud. Our partnership on Prisma Access allows us to deliver secure access for customers to their cloud applications from more locations. Through our partnership on Cortex, we bring enterprise scale analytics for prevention detection and threat response on integrated endpoint, firewall, and cloud data on our Cortex platform.”
“Increasingly, customers are choosing to move critical workloads and applications to the cloud because of the strong security protections it can provide,” said Anand Ramanathan, vice president of product and marketing at McAfee. “As more of these enterprises choose to leverage Google Cloud’s hyperscale capabilities, we’re excited to integrate our core capabilities in VM and container security to ensure Google Cloud customers can benefit from the highest levels of data protection and threat prevention.”
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CHANNELNOMICS: Google Cloud Programs Support Partners, Enterprises
