What is GCP (Google Cloud Platform) and why might you need it?

Small, medium and big companies turn to the cloud for many reasons. The cost efficiency and operational flexibility guaranteed by easy access to multiple useful services are among the most important. Read our article to learn what GCP (Google Cloud Platform) is and how you might benefit from using it.

Does your company require access to some specific services, like computing, networking, storage, machine learning etc.? From our article, you will learn not only what GCP (Google Cloud Platform) is, but also why you should consider selecting Google as your cloud service provider. Allow us to explain what makes Google Cloud different from the other cloud computing services you can choose from.

Leveraging the Cloud – what is Google Cloud Computing?

Nowadays, more and more companies are deciding to use cloud services. Cloud computing is simply the delivery of many types of computing services (servers, databases, software, analytics tools etc.) to individual and business users via an Internet network. Using cloud services allows organizations all over the world to improve their level of innovation, gain more flexibility and reduce operational costs. Google Cloud Computing is simply the name for the cloud services offered by Google. 

Of course, there are more cloud service providers than just Google. It is wise to compare different solutions before choosing one. Are you considering moving from on-premises data centers and tools, or do you want to change your cloud solutions provider? Then you probably want to learn more about what you can do with Google Cloud Platform for business and how it is better than its alternatives. 

Cloud services – what is GCP?

GCP is a short for Google Cloud Platform – a collection of cloud computing services offered by Google. These services include, for example, cloud storage, compute, networking and more advanced solutions for business such as Big Data and advanced AI and ML-based analytics. They run on the very same infrastructure is used internally by Google for its products and services (Google Search, Gmail, YouTube etc.). You can leverage GCP for deploying your own applications.

What is a GCP account?

A GCP service account is different from an individual user account. It is meant for interaction with non-human users that have to authenticate themselves and be authorized before gaining access to data in Google APIs.

Mostly, this account is used for:

• running workload on virtual machines (VMs),
• running workload on on-premises data centers or equipment that interacts with Google APIs,
• running workloads non-related to the lifecycle of an actual, human user.

The purpose of using a GCP service account is to increase the security of your applications. 

GCP applications – what is Google Cloud Platform used for?

So, you may wonder what you can do with Google Cloud Platform. You can take advantage of GCP in various types of business projects. It offers virtual machine (VMP) deployments of containerized applications similarly to AWS and Azure. It is great for deploying cloud-based enterprise backend, mobile, and web solutions and provides you with cost-efficient solutions to optimize your applications. 

Simply, Google Cloud Platform allows you to:

• store massive amount of data, objects and files in the cloud,
• host your virtual machine in Google’s IaaS,
• use advanced tools for building and deploying your serverless product applications.

GCP includes over 100 products and services that you can take advantage of. Here are some of them:

• BigQuery – we have already written about BigQuery replacing Hadoop for enterprise analytics. It is a serverless data warehouse that can be set up quickly so you can make the best use of your data in a short time. 
• Persistent Disk – this is a block storage for virtual machines (VMs) that supports easy resizing, backing up and supporting data blocks across many users. It comes with automatic encryption, which ensures your data security. 
• App Engine – GCP provides you with frameworks and other tools for developing and hosting web applications. App Engine ensures app scalability and enables users to run it without a VM or a container. 

Those are only a few examples of the tools provided by Google Cloud Platform. The collection of tools and services available in GCP is huge, so every organization will find the right solutions for their various projects. 

What is GCP in DevOps?

DevOps is a certain methodology applied in IT companies that combines cultural philosophies, good practices and modern tools in order to increase a company’s ability to deliver high-quality applications and services to the end-users and improve the existing ones. Google Cloud Platform supports companies that leverage the DevOps model by providing them with advanced tools to build, store, test and deploy applications.

There are some particular reasons why organizations following the DevOps approach choose to work with GCP:

• Google Cloud Platform provides business users with ready-to-use IoT services, so companies don’t need to install additional software.
• The services available on GCP are fully managed, which means that users don’t have to worry about maintaining infrastructure by themselves.
• GCP solutions allow companies to scale their applications easily.
• Google Cloud Platform uses automation, which speeds up the application development process significantly. By using GCP you can automate development, testing and deployment.
• GCP increases your project’s security by making it possible to set user permissions and policies. You can control who accesses your data and applications, and how they do it.

What is Terraform in GCP?

Terraform is one of the open source tools that you can leverage while working with Google Cloud. It enables users to manage multiple Google Cloud resources (virtual machines, containers, storage etc.) with declarative configuration files. Terraform’s Infrastructure as a Code approach allows you to follow DevOps best practices. 

Google Cloud Platform certifications

To make the most of the Google Cloud Platform’s potential, you need experienced professionals who understand Google’s solutions and know how to use them in order to boost productivity in your company. Having a certificate is not a must – of course – but  Google offers special Google Cloud Platform certifications for those engineers who demonstrate the proper level of knowledge. This makes it easier for organizations to find the right engineer for open positions that require experience in using GCP.

There are many available certifications such as:

• Professional Cloud Architect 
• Professional Cloud Developer 
• Professional Data Engineer 
• Professional Cloud DevOps Engineer 
• Professional Cloud Network Engineer 
• Professional Cloud Security Engineer 
• Professional Collaboration Engineer 
• Professional Machine Learning Engineer

Consider hiring a certified GCP specialist for your team.

Benefits of GCP – what does Google Cloud offer business users?

What will you gain by selecting Google Cloud Platform for your applications’ development? Here are some of the most significant benefits of choosing GCP:

• The capability to leverage innovations and modern technologies – Google regularly updates its platform, and you get access to new or improved tools and services that boost productivity in tech companies. 
• High-quality technical support – the GCP documentation is great. Google is well-known for providing its customers with great documents that simplify their work. The guides prepared by Google’s experts are detailed and easy to understand. 
• Remote access to data and services – data stored in cloud, GCP services and tools can be accessed from any place and any time via the Internet. Your employees, partners, and customers can collaborate easily. 
• Reliable security solutions – Google ensures your data and application security by leveraging the most advanced cybersecurity solutions. 

Would you like to learn more about Google Cloud Platform? Contact us and tell us what sort of information or support you need.

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