Establishing channel-first as the cornerstone of Google Cloud's strategy

Chandra Sankholkar
Director - Partners Business, Google Cloud India 

Google Cloud’s Partner Advantage program has been developed with a focus on enabling partners to deliver exceptional customer outcomes, including with generative AI, through tools, programs, and incentives. These incentives are available across the customer lifecycle, including source, deliver, transact, and grow.

The adoption of a channel-friendly or channel-first approach is indispensable for the growth of every business enterprise. As businesses in India continue to embrace AI to develop world-class products and services, organizations with robust channel ecosystems play a pivotal role in propelling customer success and expediting time-to-value for Indian enterprises. Furthermore, a channel-friendly policy ensures mutual business success and growth.

“With channel-first as the cornerstone of Google Cloud's strategy, we have established Partner Advantage, which is Google Cloud's partner program,” says Chandra Sankholkar, Director - Partners Business, Google Cloud India. “Recognized as a 5-star Partner Program by CRN, this program is structured across three tiers based on partner competencies (Premier, Partner, Member) and partner types (Sell, Service, Build). This approach enables us to meet partners at their respective stages in their journey.”

He further continues, “To create a channel-friendly policy, two core tenets must be prioritized: customer success and partner growth. With these in mind, the strategy should include -
◆ Simplified business processes for partners, making it easier for them to work with us.
◆  Investments in improving competency and delivery to drive customer excellence.
◆  Tools to help partners succeed in the market.
◆  Incentives to ensure it is a mutually beneficial partnership.”

Driven by its commitment to profitability and growth, Google partners have an opportunity to earn based on their priorities and the value they deliver. Rebates are cumulative across the customer lifecycle, reinforcing its dedication to investing in and rewarding partners for their efforts in driving customer value.

“Google has always been a partner-first organization, and this year we doubled down on building what we call the full AI life-cycle partner - to guide how AI can potentially solve business challenges for customers. Our partners are helping customers build a new way forward with purpose-built AI-infused Google Cloud solutions, including helping close the digital divide between and bring social and skill services to all Indian citizens, helping digital payments and financial services to speed up loan approvals and help offline retailers and kiranas build their businesses,” says Chandra.
The essence of the success of Google’s partner program lies in adhering to its core principles of driving customer success and fostering partner growth. Google assesses this across the entire program spectrum, encompassing enablement, certifications, specializations, marketing, funding, and incentives. These metrics are further refined based on the partner's tier and type. Partners gain real-time insights into their progress within their tier and each element, such as the number of certifications and specializations achieved, delivery readiness, sales readiness, ROI on funding and incentive programs, growth in customer acquisition and ramp, Partner NPS, and more.