Google Eyes Multi-Cloud Analytics With Looker Deal
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Google Cloud has moved to buttress its position in the booming data analytics sector with its acquisition of data platform and visualization tool vendor Looker.
Underscoring a trend among infrastructure vendors, Google Cloud said Thursday (June 6) Looker’s platform would run on multiple clouds and Looker customers would be able to access data from Google Cloud’s competitors. “We remain committed to our multi-cloud strategy and will retain and expand Looker’s capabilities to analyze data across clouds,” said Thomas Kurian, CEO of Google Cloud.
That includes local support for hybrid cloud deployments and cloud databased, Kurian added.
The all-cash deal is valued at $2.6 billion. The acquisition is likely to attract antitrust scrutiny, and Kurian acknowledged, “We don’t have a clear timeline” on regulatory approval.
Looker has worked closely with Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) since the data analytics company was founded in 2011. The two companies claim more than 350 joint customers. Last year, Looker integrated its data platform tools with the beta release of Google Cloud’s BigQuery ML.
Google Cloud’s multi-cloud strategy reflects a growing trend among public cloud competitors, offering services that interoperate with partners and competitors. For example, Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) and cloud database vendor Oracle (NYSE: ORCL) said this week they would collaborate to allow customers to migrate and run enterprise workloads across each other’s cloud.
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