5 Reasons Why Google Cloud is (Still) the Best Cloud for IoT

You may have heard that Google Cloud announced that the IoT Core product will be discontinued in August 2023. The IoT Core deprecation has left some wondering whether Google is exiting the IoT business altogether. As a premier Google partner and independent IoT software company with many successful enterprise deployments and millions of devices running on our platform, we can answer that question with a resounding no.

On the contrary, Google Cloud is adopting an open, partner-led strategy to IoT that mirrors their approach to many of their other cloud services. This direction provides customers with greater choice, less single vendor lock-in, and more full-featured offerings. In fact, at Leverege we still believe that Google Cloud is the best cloud for IoT applications and here are 5 reasons why:

1. Unrivaled Security – It’s no secret that Google Cloud is widely recognized as the most secure cloud in the industry. The potential attack surface for IoT solutions is much greater than pure-play software applications since IoT requires unattended sensors to be deployed in the physical world. Google puts security at the forefront of every cloud and edge service they offer so IoT customers can sleep well at night.
   
   
2. Leading AI/ML Products – IoT creates an ever-expanding data pipe for artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms. As digital transformation continues to sweep the globe and everything on the planet becomes connected, the amount of data generated by IoT devices will far exceed human-generated signals. Google’s AI and ML products make device data actionable, leading to enhanced automation and better decisions.
   
   
3. Lowest Cost – The Leverege IoT Stack is a sophisticated, microservices-based IoT platform that has been ported to all of the major cloud providers; therefore, we know from direct experience that no cloud is more reliable and less expensive to operate at scale than Google Cloud. Since the operating cost of IoT solutions is often the biggest inhibitor to scale, keeping infrastructure costs low unlocks many use cases that might have been too expensive to automate when compared to other alternatives.
   
   
4. Data Residency – Google Cloud has the most extensive fiber backbone in the world and is rapidly deploying edge locations and points of presence (PoPs) internationally. Many countries are levying data residency requirements that are non-negotiable, meaning that all IoT data must be processed and stored within the borders of the host country. Being able to meet these strict localization and data residency requirements unlocks new markets for IoT application providers such as Leverege.
   
   
5. Location Services – Location is a central element of many IoT applications such as asset tracking and fleet management. It’s here where Google’s suite of location-centric products is the most comprehensive and accurate, from Google Maps and Google Earth for indoor and outdoor visualization to rich APIs for optimized routing and multi-source, non-GPS location via WiFi hotspots and cell towers.
   

In summary, don’t let the IoT Core deprecation announcement affect your decision to use Google Cloud for your IoT projects. It is still a great choice and Google’s large and growing ecosystem of Marketplace partners have everything you need to be successful in IoT.