Google is looking for more ways to sell its data storage services — this isn’t surprising given that many of the major cloud computing companies, including Google and Amazon, have been involved in a bit of a price war over the last couple years. Google has decided to move forward with its bid for business by giving away their services, hoping that enough people opt in to make it worth their while.
This week, Google announced a new program that would give $100,000 credit toward their Google Cloud Platform to start-ups. The offering is pretty inclusive, as well. Although companies need to have less than $500,000 in currently annual revenue, and have to be less than five years old, there will be no shortage of eligible businesses opting in.
The idea of offering the credit to start-ups will hit home with many of them — start-ups often invest heavily in cloud because of its ability to quickly scale up and down with demand, and essentially grow alongside the company. Unlike in-house hardware, companies don’t need to pay for expensive updates or an IT crew. Instead, they just receive a monthly fee. Cloud computing technology has traditionally allowed start-ups to maintain a lower overhead during a time when high costs can make or break a fledgling business.
While it might seem ludicrous that Google would give out an incredible amount of storage for seemingly free, it could make a lot of sense in the long run. Google is banking on the idea that, once companies go through their $100,000 and turn into more mature companies, they’re still going to rely on Google’s services for everything from storing data to running data queries. And they’re probably right. The cost and struggle of switching over to other cloud hosting services would deter many companies from doing it, especially when Google already offers competitive prices.
Should all businesses be switching over to Google? Not so fast. Every company should fully research their options to see what is the best long-term solution. While price is always one component of picking a cloud provider, it shouldn’t be the only one. Some cloud solution providers are better known for security features than others, and each service will be different in the type of advantages they offer.
What type of cloud solutions does your company use? Let us know in the comments. Read this website for more information.