Google started going after business customers years ago with Google Apps for Business, which steered many business customers away from an onsite Microsoft Exchange server to their hosted email solution. A name change to G Suite, and several additional products later, Google still wants to win customers away from Microsoft.
Among the recent moves: Google's push towards enterprise level businesses with the Chrome Enterprise announcement.
Now the gloves are off. The search giant is actively pursuing MSPs that already resell the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.
Google's Free Chromebook Pitch
The pitch from Google comes with a free Google Chromebook offer, and an invitation to use the new Chromebook in a Google Hangout where someone will try to sell you on the features of the Google Cloud Platform. During the hangout, Google will show the company how it can use its suite of technologies to improve their operations or expand their potential re-selling services.
This is definitely a great marketing ploy, albeit fairly expensive. The carrot dangled is the promise of a free Chromebook... but instead of just sending a postcard stating that fact, they send over the sleeve to carry the Chromebook in, to give you more of a desire to own it. Plus a package is much more likely than a letter or postcard to be opened and viewed.
Google's Microsoft MSP Pursuit
With the way technology is always changing and moving forward, I am glad that a company that is trying to break into an already saturated market (currently occupied by huge names Amazon AWS and Microsoft Azure) is thinking of ways to get their platform in front of decision makers.
MSPs are generally not entirely loyal to any one given company. They are usually looking for the best tools to get the job done. If your company happens to provide the best tool, then if they know about it, they will likely pick you.
Still, Google Cloud Platform has to live up to its promise. Free Chromebook or not, an MSP isn't going to switch from a familiar trusted solution (Azure, AWS) to a platform (Google's cloud) that can do the same things in the same ways. There will need to be a compelling reason for them to switch, so my advice to Google is while you have their attention during the Hangout, make sure you make that compelling argument, or you probably just wasted a lot of money.
