A show summary of the Google Next Event October 2022.
Omdia View
On October 12, 2022, Google hosted Cloud Next ‘22. This event hosted a variety of vertical market sessions, including key cloud-based announcements. Omdia views the role of Google Cloud and AI-driven platforms as crucial drivers in accelerating data-driven transformation and sustainability.
Key announcements
- Vertex AI & BigQuery: Additional unstructured and structured data capabilities for vision, audio, and text. Google Cloud reported that up to 90% of the organizations’ data is currently unstructured.
- Cloud Infrastructure Expansion: Addition of six new cloud infrastructure regions (Sweden, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Greece, Austria). This expansion will add analytic functionality to regions outside North America.
- Open Data Ecosystem & Big Lake: Improvement for unification methods across Google’s platform in avoiding data silos through data warehouses and lakes. Investment into pure data science by the expansion of AI agents across the google platform. These technologies will apply AI to common business challenges focusing on customer experience metrics.
- Trusted Cloud: Enhancements to the invisible security offerings across the Google platform. This expansion is focused on new partnerships, data sovereignty controls, and identity management for endpoint security. Google noted that many customers don’t have the capacity to consume and monetize this innovation—hence Google Cloud’s attempt to shift their approach from a regional to a more specialized approach.
- BigQuery Open XLA: Google is opening its cloud platform to facilitate a more free flow of data. Open XLA will bring support for Elastic open source into the newly expanded looker line of business analytics tools.
Cloud expansion and sovereignty—new threats create new opportunities
Google Cloud has been continuously investing in new data centers to accommodate growing cloud demand across the globe. New regions include Sweden, Ireland, Norway, South Africa, Greece, and Austria, which gives Google Cloud a total of 40 live and pending regions. Considering the ongoing conflict in Ukraine, the expansion of new cloud regions will also result in new opportunities. Since the creation of big data and the cloud in the 2000s, the idea of data sovereignty has been the practice of returning data to more centralized locations where safety concerns are better managed, especially in public sector markets where data is typically constrained to specific jurisdictions. However, as the war continues to impact surrounding European countries, the practice of moving data out of the region has become a relatively new concept.
As a result, Google announced Trusted Cloud as the new Google Cloud-ready Sovereign Solutions. This program has been joined by more than 20 independent software vendors (ISVs) whose products will be compatible with Google Cloud. The aim of this new program for customers and partners is to advance digital sovereignty. Google has observed higher interest in digital sovereignty and data embassy models. Google’s new solution would utilize an external country to host and protect national security data if local digital infrastructure is threatened.
Google innovation summary
Summarized below are the vertical use cases and areas targeted for future Google cloud innovation.
- Retail
- Customer-centric retailer
- Digital and omnichannel revenue growth
- Modern store creation
- Sustainable operations
- CPG
- Customer understanding
- Visibility and risk
- Healthcare
- Imaging and diagnostics
- Genomics
- Predicative analytics and risk scoring
- Health data interoperability
- Media
- DTC/OTT streaming media
- Live broadcast for media
- Content production for media
- Intelligence and personalization
- Public sector
- DTC/OTT streaming media
- Live broadcast for media
- Content production for media
- Intelligence and personalization
- Industrial
- Growth and customer experiences
- Managing risk and regulatory requirements
- Operations and cost efficiency
- Logistics
- Growth and customer experiences
- Managing risk and regulatory requirements
- Operations and cost efficiency
- Financial services
- Growth and customer experiences
- Managing risk and regulatory requirements
- Operations and cost efficiency
- Games
- Game servers
- Analytics for games
- Game production
- Gaming predictions
- Telecom
- Monetizing the edge
- Low-touch, high-value digital experiences
- Service provider network evaluations
- Managing core systems & workforce.
Principles into practice—customer stories
“Efficiency is not sustainability, and sustainability is not efficiency”
Omdia believes that current digital transformation and sustainability efforts will require a fundamental shift of culture from performance improvement (cost and time saving) to work execution (redeployment of the workforce). The major reason for this is that process improvement is typically difficult to measure. Therefore, additional resources to scale a solution will not be supported by an executive team.
It is likely that data- and AI-driven predictive models will be more effective in achieving sustainable business practices through process optimization compared to policy and governance. Many customer stories throughout the conference illustrated the challenges in collecting and operationalizing enough data for AI or machine learning (ML), which is true, particularly for small and medium-sized companies.
Omdia summarizes some highlighted customer stories focusing on the Google cloud partnerships.
Table 1: Customer stories at Google Cloud Next ‘22
|
Customer |
Google Solution |
|
Airbus (Aerospace) Airbus are on a transformation journey with Google to achieve digitalization within domestic supply chains and manufacturing processes. Primarily data within the Airbus business is tied to the military and is frequently siloed on-premises with very few central repositories.
|
BigQuery Airbus is utilizing BigQuery as a critical tool in providing visibility and actionable analytics to an ecosystem of over 5,000 suppliers. A challenge common in the space of manufacturing is that many of these suppliers and partners are at different stages of cloud and data migration. Google Workspace Airbus addressed the challenge of data silos by implementing an enterprise-wide rollout of smart phones on the factory floor. In combination with Google Workspace, Airbus is accelerating data democratization by incrementally digitalizing processes and creating central repositories so data can be universally accessed. |
|
Volkswagen Group (automotive) Volkswagen Group are investing in sustainability initiatives through automating the design process of future vehicles. Specifically, Volkswagen are utilizing Google Cloud to build models focusing on aerodynamics without the need for costly infrastructure. |
BigQuery The cost of digital simulations and running powerful ML models for design can be extremely expensive in processes that require multiple iterations. Typically, one of the largest costs for auto manufacturers is the design process which must comply with dynamic regulations. Volkswagen aim to use BigQuery to create more efficient data-driven models to automate design processes without the need for costly wind tunnels and digital simulations. |
|
Brightfield (energy) Brightfield is an industrial IOT acquisition provider working on adding visibility to electricity grids in both production and distribution. With the increase of sustainable energy production, Brightfield are partnering with Google to serve an energy sector with dynamic supply whilst addressing challenges of energy curtailment.
|
Open Data Ecosystem Brightfield currently collect huge data sets (10 million in Munich alone) which require a vast amount of data storage and processing power. Grid transparency will be critical in achieving sustainability and solving the fundamental problem of energy being produced in one location where, commonly, demand is elsewhere. Google ML and Dashboarding Similar to advancements made in Google Maps for eco-friendly routing, Brightfield aim to expand data models and AI predictive analytics to make recommendations on future energy usage. In today’s market, energy from the point of production and distribution have little to no visibility. |
Source: Omdia
Bottom line: Sustainability at the forefront
In Omdia’s opinion, the overarching theme in connecting unique customer stories and driving innovation was “environmental, social, and governance” (ESG). Presented by Google as “Today Meets Tomorrow,” sustainability will increasingly be seen as a key performance metric for new and existing APIs in future markets. It can be expected that both Google and the wider technology marketplace will further align strategies with globally driven sustainability initiatives. Hence any new technology introduced to the business should have both business execution and its environmental impact in mind.
Appendix
Author
Dominika Koncewicz, Senior Analyst, Cloud and Data Center
Alexander Bourgeois, Senior Analyst, AI, Analytics & Data
