Thanks to the deal with Deutsche Bank, Google can hold its own against its main cloud rivals Amazon and Microsoft for the first time. Does the partnership also convince other data-sensitive companies from Germany?

This news makes one sit up and take notice: Deutsche Bank and Google want to enter into a multi-year strategic partnership in IT matters. The bankers want to use the cloud services of the US group, among other things . In addition, both companies plan to jointly develop technology-based products for the financial sector .

The deal is remarkable for several reasons: So far, two companies in particular have dominated the still young cloud market. According to figures from the American market researcher Canalys from February 2020, every third company worldwide that uses cloud services relies on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the subsidiary of the group known primarily for its online trade. Almost every fifth company uses Microsoft. Google Cloud follows behind in third place with only six percent.

AWS generated $ 35 billion worldwide last year – and, like Microsoft, has been growing at double-digit rates for years. In comparison, Google’s cloud business has so far been relatively under the radar – also and especially in Germany.

In the past, the Google rivals in particular made a name for themselves in this country. Last year, for example, when Volkswagen announced major partnerships with both providers: The Wolfsburg-based company is building an auto cloud for digital value-added services with Microsoft ; with AWS, however, VW wants to network its 122 factories worldwide in an industrial cloud .

At eye level with the market leaders

The deal with Deutsche Bank therefore means two things for Google: On the one hand, the large order gives the Americans a visible foot in the door of the German market, which has so far been relatively closed to them. On the other hand, Google is proving that in cloud computing they can act on a par with their US rivals AWS and Microsoft. For some time, Google has been trying to attract customers in this industry, but so far it has only been able to win over HSBC , as reported by the Bloomberg news agency.

The ten-year partnership between Google and Deutsche Bank is also noteworthy for another reason: Many companies – especially in Germany – are worried about losing control of their own data when using an American cloud provider. Google operates seven data centers in Europe, one of them in Germany. It is not known on which the data for Deutsche Bank will be processed. But the so-called Cloud Act allows US authorities to even access data from Amazon, Microsoft or Google stored abroad in the event of suspicion.

Particularly strict rules

It is not yet known that this has already happened. In a long-standing dispute before the American Supreme Court, Microsoft tried to prevent the US government from accessing at least the data that is on servers outside the USA. Vain. This leaves many companies with a certain degree of uncertainty.

And now with Deutsche Bank, of all things, a German company from the specially regulated financial sector is using a US provider like Google. The regulations for data storage on German servers are among the strictest here. And the customers are probably more sensitive than in any other industry: Who wants their credit card or old-age pension information to fall into the wrong hands? Google has apparently convinced Deutsche Bank that this will not happen. The partnership could therefore have a signal effect for the cloud industry as a whole – according to the motto: If the Deutschbankers trust the Americans, industrial companies and retailers can too.