Google Cloud Platform

Google Cloud Platform (GCP) is Google's public cloud computing service, offering a broad suite of infrastructure, platform, and serverless products. It leverages the same global network and data centers that power Google's consumer services, providing businesses with scalable and reliable infrastructure. GCP's portfolio includes computing, storage, databases, networking, big data, and machine learning services, with flagship products like BigQuery, Kubernetes Engine, and Vertex AI.

The platform traces its origins to April 7, 2008, when Google announced a preview of App Engine, a platform-as-a-service offering that allowed developers to run web applications on Google's infrastructure. This launch came two years after Amazon Web Services entered the cloud market and two years before Microsoft Azure. App Engine exited preview in late 2011. Google Cloud's commercial focus intensified in 2015 with the hiring of VMware founder Diane Greene, but the appointment of Thomas Kurian as CEO in January 2019 marked a turning point, driving the platform's rise in market rankings and revenue.

Google Cloud competes directly with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure in the "Cloud Wars." As of Q3 2025, Google Cloud held 13% of worldwide enterprise cloud infrastructure spending, with AWS leading at 29% and Microsoft Azure at 20%. Under Kurian's leadership, the platform has achieved record revenue growth, reaching $20 billion in quarterly revenue by Q1 2026, and has overtaken Microsoft Cloud in incremental revenue growth for the first time in Q4 2025. [edit]