Google Cloud is one of the three big cloud providers. Its market share is lower compared to AWS and Azure, but it holds the industry-leader position in certain areas (data analytics, machine learning, Kubernetes). In this article we'll examine GCP's strengths and the right use scenarios.
01. Main Service Categories
Standout services:
- Compute Engine (VM), Cloud Run (serverless), GKE (Kubernetes)
- Cloud Storage, BigQuery (analytics warehouse)
- Cloud SQL, Spanner (distributed DB)
- Vertex AI (ML platform)
- Anthos (hybrid/multi-cloud)
02. BigQuery: A Critical Difference
GCP's strongest card is BigQuery. A serverless analytics warehouse that queries terabyte-petabyte-scale data in seconds. Compared to AWS Redshift and Azure Synapse, the setup and management burden is minimal.
03. Leader in Kubernetes
Google invented Kubernetes; GKE is still the most mature managed Kubernetes service. Multi-cluster management, auto-scaling, security patching — all ready.
04. AI and ML
Strong for ML workloads with TensorFlow and Vertex AI. But in recent years the OpenAI + Azure integration left GCP behind in this area; there's an effort to close the gap with Gemini.
05. Pricing
GCP's price model is simpler than AWS's. With committed use discounts (CUD), a 1-3 year commitment gives a 30-57% discount. A sustained use discount is applied automatically.