On Monday, Google announced a host of expanded solutions and integrations for its Software as a Service (SaaS) partners to help more businesses successfully migrate to the cloud, at its Cloud Next 2018 conference Partner Summit in San Francisco.

Google Cloud has increased its partner ecosystem tenfold since the start of 2017, according to a Monday blog post, including new and expanded partnerships with Accenture, Deloitte, and KPMG. That means that customers can use Google Cloud through their existing partner relationships, the post noted, and more easily tap the benefits of cloud in terms of data insights and digital transformation.

Since SaaS is now the preferred method for delivery of enterprise applications, Google has set out to make its cloud platform more useful for those partners, including Salesforce, Box, and MongoDB the post noted.

SEE: Cloud migration decision tool (Tech Pro Research)

New programs announced at the Partner Summit to help those partners bring SaaS applications to customers include a co-selling program that matches Google Cloud Platform sales team members with SaaS partners to better deliver cloud-run SaaS solutions to customers, as well as a new way for partners to receive Marketing Development Funds (MDFs) from Google based on the amount of Google Cloud Platform use they gain from their SaaS products.

Google also unveiled a program that will connect Google’s Customer Reliability Engineering team with SaaS partners, to better maintain their products on Google Cloud. A new online community for SaaS partners will better allow them to network and share best practices, as well as receive updates from Google Cloud, according to the post.

A number of new technology integrations with Google Cloud are also coming to partners soon, Google said in the post. These include new SAP solutions to extend cloud strategies to more use cases, and a cloud center of excellence that provides resources, tips, and best practices to help customers migrate high-performance cloud computing workloads onto Google Cloud Platform. A new plug-in for VMware vRealize Orchestrator will allow customers to use Google Cloud Platform alongside their on-premises VMware environment, the post noted.

In the blockchain world, Google also announced that distributed ledger solution provider Digital Asset will bring its blockchain platform and developer tools to Google Cloud platform. This will give developers access to a suite of tools and services to build, test, and deploy distributed ledger applications on-demand, without having to configure the underlying platform, according to a press release. As more organizations explore blockchain opportunities, the solution could provide an easier point of entry.

The big takeaways for tech leaders:

  • At Google Cloud Next 2018, the company announced a number of expanded solutions and integrations for its SaaS partners to help more businesses successfully migrate to the cloud.
  • New Google Cloud Platform integrations for partners include SAP solutions to extend cloud strategies, a new VMware plugin, and a cloud center of excellence.