Continued Business Value Generated By Technologists

Evidence and data. Following comprehensive due diligence and a strategic decision to adopt the GCP, interviewees were presented with three options for advancing their cloud innovation initiatives: leveraging their internal technologists, engaging a systems integrator, or utilizing GCC. The interviewees opted for GCC, thereby enabling their internal team of technologists to maintain focus on generating business value. Interviewees also noted that their projects would have taken two to three times longer without the help of GCC.  

• The head of digital transformation office and chief of staff at a digital media company shared: “We would definitely have had to hire a consulting firm, an external contractor, or contractor resources because to do this in-house would have required a lot more FTE time.”

• The chief information officer at a finance company commented: “It would have taken twice, if not three times longer if we didn’t use GCC. We’ve managed to dedicate a percentage of our team, along with GCC, to the project. Delivering outstanding results manifests itself in the speed with which things get done. That includes managing risk, building regional resilient systems and taking advantage of the scale that cloud provides. We’ve managed to do that in a timeframe that is one-third of what it would take doing it in-house.”

• “We could have tried to go for it on our own, but we would be nowhere close to where we are now in terms of capability development. We wouldn’t even be halfway. GCC helped us accelerate our transition to the cloud and the building of cloud skills,” said the chief analytics officer at a healthcare company.

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite would need 185 technologists to complete cloud innovation tasks, including migrating half of its workloads to the cloud.

• The time that these technologists spend on cloud innovation tasks decreases over time since most of the work needs to be done early in the project.

• Each technologist generates $250,000 of business value annually as per industry standards.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• Number of workloads migrating to the cloud.

• Number of technologists required to complete tasks, and the rate of work accomplished.

• Total business value generated per technologist.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 20%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $47.5 million.

Cost Savings From Decommissioning On-Prem Infrastructure

Evidence and data. Many of the interviewees worked with GCC to digitally transform their businesses and migrate to the cloud. This effort included decommissioning many on-premises servers from data centers as the workloads shifted to the cloud. By not having to replace servers, they reduced the cost of the physical servers, server maintenance effort, and other data-center-related expenses.

• “We probably eliminated between 50 to 60 legacy SQL servers as we consolidated just our data in the cloud, and that is a very conservative estimate. The reduction in maintenance is the biggest part that we saved on. Also, we would have had to replace them at some point,” shared the senior director of enterprise applications at a gaming company.

• According to the survey, 73% of respondents indicated that they reduced infrastructure costs with GCC.²

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• It decommissions 780 servers, which represents half of the total servers it maintains. It decommissions 70% in Year 1, 20% in Year 2, and 10% in Year 3.

• The total cost of the servers and related expenses is $25,000 as per industry standards.

• The composite attributes 35% of this benefit to GCC, which contributes the strategy and implementation versus GCP, which contributes the technology.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• Number of servers decommissioned.

• Cost per server and its related expenses.

• Portion of the benefit attributable to GCP versus GCC.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $13.1 million.

Increase In Operating Profit Due To Technology Upgrade

Evidence and data. Multiple interviewees saw an increase in top-line revenue due to improved technology, which includes better customer experiences due to AI, automation, personalization, and advanced capabilities. According to the survey, 57% of survey respondents saw improved customer experience with GCC.³

• The head of analytics at a finance company noted: “Adopting newer technologies like AI or the cost of our services going down due to digital transformation generates referrals as we build new processes. Things turn around faster for our insurance products, which leads to a bigger market share for us. We are also seeing that we are now being viewed by our customers as innovative, which wasn’t previously possible when we were using on-premises types of capabilities.”

• “Revenue efficiency comes from the fact that we can keep a higher level of high-performing games in the market because we can more quickly swap games in and out. We can more quickly replace the games that aren’t performing with something new and shiny. This brings the customers back in,” shared the senior director of enterprise applications at a gaming company.

• According to the survey, 62% of respondents indicated they have increased customer acquisition with GCC, and 47% have increased revenue from new revenue streams.⁴ Revenue gains were significant, with 19 respondents indicating that they increased revenue from new revenue streams by $51.1 million.⁵ In addition, 60% of respondents saw an increase in their Net Promoter Score℠ (NPS) due to GCC.⁶ The average increase was 13.5 points.⁷

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite sees an uptick in net profit beginning in the second half of Year 2.

• Revenue grows by $16.7 million in Year 2 and $33.3 million in Year 3.

• The composite attributes 35% of this benefit to GCC, which contributes the strategy and implementation versus GCP, which contributes the technology.

• It applies a 12% operating profit margin to revenue.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• Timing and total revenue increase.

• Portion of this benefit attributable to GCP versus GCC.

• Operating margin.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $1.4 million.

Fines Avoided Due To Compliance

Evidence and data. Interviewees reported reducing compliance breach fines, which were generally the result of data deletions or other data issues. Furthermore, interviewees shared that they were in a better position to assure regulators they had followed proper protocol due to their work with GCC.

• The head of analytics at a finance company said: “We had an incident where we potentially would have had to go and declare to the regulator about some potential data deletion, but because of GCC, we managed to save the data before the deletion happened. Had we not, the result could have been dire, but GCC managed to help save us.”

• The head of analytics also shared: “You can never fully eliminate the chance that a compliance breach will happen. However, we now have the confidence to sit in front of a regulator and say that we have taken all steps possible within the senior management framework and that not by any negligence have we willingly caused data to disappear from our company.”

• Survey respondents indicated that they had reduced audits/fees or other effort by 16% with GCC compliance and governance.⁸

• According to the survey, 61% of respondents indicated they had reduced the average cost of a data breach with GCC.⁹             

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The composite begins to realize this benefit in the second half of Year 2.

• Fines related to compliance breach events total $28.5 million in Year 2 and $57.0 million in Year 3.

• The likelihood of a compliance breach is 10%.

• The composite attributes 50% of this benefit to GCC, which contributes the strategy, insights, and implementation versus GCP, which contributes the technology.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• Total fines levied in the event of a compliance breach and timing of breaches.

• Likelihood of a compliance breach.

• How much of this benefit is attributed to GCP versus GCC.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 15%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $2.8 million.

Efficiency Gains In Data Operations

Evidence and data. Interviewees gained efficiencies in data operations due to their work with GCC and data being consolidated in the cloud versus being siloed on on-premises servers, which provided improved access control and faster data processing.

• “The project helped us automate the data access requests. It used to be very manual, where you had to process the request, which is basically a long form that people would fill out. After that, the request got handed over to data owners for review and then to IT, who handed it over to the relevant team to provide that access. This whole thing took about half a month. With the help of GCC, we were able to implement this automated, policy-driven access control mechanism, which cut the process down to hours. That is a massive improvement. Our productivity loss was minimized by engaging GCC, who helped us implement this project quickly, so we saved quite a bit,” commented the head of engineering at an online retail company.

• The chief analytics officer at a healthcare company noted: “While our benefit is more about the platform itself, GCC helped us get there. The data processing side of our engagement is superb. People are spending much less time waiting for queries to run, so their ability to stand up environments and experiment is excellent. We are spending significantly more time on insight generation and delivery than we were in all the steps that were necessary before to prepare someone to even start insight generation.”

• The senior director of enterprise applications at a gaming company stated: “Instead of having to connect to four different databases, our team can now go to the GCP platform and pull out one dataset that combines all that data. Efficiency from this is significant.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• Each FTE working on data operations saves 5 hours per month due to GCC.

• There are 50 FTEs working on data operations.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for a data operations FTE is $60. .

• The productivity recapture rate is 80%.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• The number of FTEs working on data operations.

• The number of hours saved on data operations per FTE.

• The fully burdened hourly rate for a data operations FTE.

• The productivity recapture rate.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 10%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $527,000.

GCP Credit Applied To Service Fees

Evidence and data. All interviewees received credits, which were based on their total GCP commitment. This amount varied for each of the interviewees, but they could pay a portion of their GCC fees with credits.

• The head of engineering for an online retailer mentioned: “Since we signed a multiyear commitment with Google Cloud, we got these credits as part of the package. We utilize most of that and then some part of it we have to pay.”

• The chief information officer at a finance company said: “As a part of our partnership with Google Cloud, GCC is offered as well. It provides a lot of value for us.”

Modeling and assumptions. Based on the interviews, Forrester assumes the following about the composite organization:

• The list price for the service GCC provides to the composite is $14.1 million per year.

• The composite receives 30% of the service fees as credits it can use toward GCC.

Risks. Forrester recognizes that these results may not be representative of all experiences. The following factors may impact this benefit:

• Total service fees.

• Percentage of service fees covered by credits.

• Total GCP commitment.

Results. To account for these risks, Forrester adjusted this benefit downward by 5%, yielding a three-year, risk-adjusted total PV (discounted at 10%) of $10.0 million.

Unquantified Benefits

Interviewees and survey respondents mentioned the following additional benefits that their organizations experienced but were not able to quantify:

• Accelerated AI and genAI adoption. Interviewees highlighted that GCC helped them integrate AI into their core technology stack. This facilitated rapid deployment of AI algorithms, leading to observable reductions in administrative costs and contributing to revenue enhancement. Strategically incorporating genAI capabilities also facilitated timelier decision-making and improved operational efficiency, fostering broader business growth and innovation. “We are definitely using AI in the transformative space. For example, for some of our customer offerings, we are doing a lot of work around transforming the way we get a better NPS from our customers. Due to the level of service that we can now provide to them as part of AI and the ability to get products to market quicker, we are seeing an increase in NPS,” said the head of analytics at a finance company.
  The chief analytics officer at a healthcare company shared: “In partnership with GCC, we built an AI platform that allows us to rapidly develop and deploy AI algorithms. What is nice about it is that it’s an advancement relative to where we were because it gives us a lot more observability and monitoring as well as the ability to deliver on real-time use cases. We are then able to integrate these algorithms with operations to provide decision support, or even in some cases, full on decision-making. It is also leading to administrative cost reduction and enhanced revenue. Without the platform, we would have had no way to even execute on genAI, but then GCC specifically helped us rapidly turn those capabilities on and start using them in a way that is safe and secure. We developed, launched, and deployed an enterprise AI policy that operates in a zero data leakage environment.”

• Enhanced speed to market. Interviewees reported that GCC’s guidance enabled them to launch more highly targeted products with increased velocity. By providing critical insights during the ideation phase, GCC helped accelerate product development and market entry, ensuring offerings were better aligned with customer needs and thereby strengthening competitive positioning. “Speed to market, which is a critical metric for us, is when we create a new game from the ideation phase through to getting it into customers’ hands. We have probably increased that speed to market piece by around 30% to 40% just by having access to the data. We have far better metrics now across the entire global group that give us a real significant level of confidence, whether a game is going to be a win or not,” shared the senior director of enterprise applications at a gaming company.
  The chief information officer at a finance company commented: “GCC helped us in accelerating migration, meeting our timelines, and managing cost per unit performance. They are also helping us with our organizational transformation. Consequently, we are in a better position to directly provide services to customers than we were before.”

• Improved operational resilience and downtime reduction. Interviewees reported that GCC significantly reduced downtime through cloud migration. GCC’s expertise in guiding cloud migration efforts mitigated risks associated with physical server failures, leading to enhanced system reliability and business continuity. This proactive approach protected operational integrity and safeguarded against potential reputational damage. The senior director of enterprise applications at a gaming company said: “The security and risk element of not having a business-critical physical server go down is worth untold millions to us from a reputational and a licensing perspective. If one of these critical legacy systems went down, and it was a server that was running one of our games for a casino, the reputational damage and possibly losing a license in a key jurisdiction would be catastrophic. That’s our main reason for going to the cloud.”

• Optimized cloud costs. Interviewees reported that GCC significantly enhanced their cloud platform’s cost performance. By meticulously analyzing utilization and consumption patterns, GCC provided strategic recommendations such as committed use discounts and prepurchasing slots at a discount. This expert guidance ensured successful budget management to optimize cloud expenditures while maintaining high performance and efficiency. “We are largely self-sufficient now, but the role of GCC has evolved. Now it is about handling new challenges. They are helping us refactor and reimagine some of our services as well as optimize the design. That’s the evolution — the initial stages were about the best strategy and knowledge to migrate, and the subsequent strategies are about optimizing to get the best out of the platform in terms of cost performance. Our cost per unit performance equation makes us very successful. We are managing within our numbers,” shared the chief information officer at a finance company.
  The chief analytics officer at a healthcare company said: “I can’t speak highly enough about our technical account managers. They are both identifying places of optimization and bringing new ideas to bear. They are looking at our utilization, our consumption patterns, and then making recommendations to us in terms of optimizations that we can do. They’ve been very helpful in terms of us building more mature capabilities and having very tangible and tactical actions to move to the next level of maturity, which has been so critical for us to control our cloud spend.”

• Access to world-class engineering expertise. Interviewees expressed appreciation for the GCC engineers and product leaders, who possess deep GCP expertise. Their familiarity with Google’s offerings ensured that interviewees maximized the benefits of the GCP, driving above-average value and performance. This expert guidance not only optimized cloud utilization but also empowered the organization to achieve strategic goals and operational excellence. The chief information officer for a finance company commented: “The difference is that GCC gives you access to engineers who are intimately familiar with Google’s cloud platform. And for us, what is even more beneficial is the fact that they give us access to product leadership at Google, engineers, and specialists. In many ways, they are helping us partner with Google. For example, we have some unique processing patterns that move significantly during periods of high market volatility. Scale is natural to cloud, but low latency is not, so having Google engineers working with us to actually get the best out of the product is a huge benefit. In fact, it is the biggest value proposition.”

• Innovative culture and agile engineering. Interviewees praised GCC for introducing them to the innovative capabilities of the GCP. Additionally, GCC facilitated the transformation of their organizations from centralized technology entities to product-focused engineering teams. This shift fostered direct collaboration between engineers and product owners, effectively bridging the gap between clients and service developers. This strategic transformation not only enhanced operational efficiency but also drove innovation and client satisfaction. The chief information officer at a finance company noted: “GCC introduced us to innovative offerings that Google has. As a result, we have an innovation program that we work with Google on where we create new ideas and they help us with them.” The chief information officer went on to share: “GCC has helped reimagine how we engineer solutions. We’ve transformed ourselves from a monolithic technology organization to an engineering organization where engineers are allocated to products, so they’re working directly with the products and the product owner.”

• Cloud self-sufficiency. GCC empowered the interviewees’ organizations to achieve self-sufficiency in managing and optimizing their cloud environments through comprehensive learning and support. Throughout the engagement, most of the teams developed proficiency in the GCP, ensuring long-term operational excellence and strategic advantage. This approach not only enhanced technical capabilities but also fostered a culture of continuous improvement and innovation. The head of digital transformation office and chief of staff at a digital media company said: “We have had so much customized learning done by GCC, and this is probably one of the most beneficial gains that we’ve had from the partnership. We have had so much custom learning around, like Spanner and cloud operations.”
  The chief information officer at a finance company shared: “The reason why we decide to continue to work with GCC is because they bring engineers to the table, and we are self-sufficient. On the training side, your measure of success is how quickly did you become self-sufficient and skilled in the platform. We did that in three years.”

• Valued client-centric partnership model. Interviewees consistently highlighted GCC’s distinctive strategy, which is deeply rooted in aligning with shared goals and objectives. GCC prioritizes client success instead of focusing on revenue generation, time, and materials billing. This client-centric approach not only fosters long-term partnerships but also drives sustainable growth and mutual success. The chief information officer at a finance company noted: “What we found really valuable is that GCC takes a shared goal or shared objective perspective. They are vested in our success. Oftentimes, if you are dealing with a systems integrator, they are more interested in time and materials, but when you work with GCC, the fees, revenue, time, and materials are secondary. Our success was primary for Google. I found that very unique.”

Flexibility

The value of flexibility is unique to each customer. There are multiple scenarios in which a customer might implement GCC and later realize additional uses and business opportunities, including:

• Modern infrastructure and capabilities. According to interviewees, GCC helped them migrate to the cloud and create an engineering-focused organization. This allowed them to continue to innovate by providing a foundation for new technologies such as AI.

Flexibility would also be quantified when evaluated as part of a specific project (described in more detail in Total Economic Impact Approach).