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Google Cloud Acquires Looker, Takes Another Step Towards Becoming an Enterprise Cloud Option

Google Cloud is in the process of acquiring data visualization vendor Looker for $2.6B.Adding Looker to the Google Cloud arsenal of capabilities provides a direct competition channel against Tableau, Domo, and Microsoft's Power BI.

Google states the two companies already share 350 common customers, and many of these accounts are seeking a deeper integration between Looker and Google Cloud capabilities such as Big Query. Big Query currently does a great job of crunching massive amounts of data, whereas Looker will provide the ability to package up the analysis results and present them in a user-friendly package.

Image source: Google

Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, remains steadfast in maintaining that Google will not isolate Looker or prevent the current interoperability capabilities with other cloud services. Additionally, Google Cloud will not prevent other data visualization services from competing with Looker on the Google Cloud platform.

Our Take

The acquisition of Looker by Google Cloud represents forward progress as CEO Thomas Kurian seeks to reshape Google Cloud into a full-service, enterprise-friendly public cloud option. This is likely one step among many acquisitions to come as Google seeks to fill in the gaps in their cloud offering with proven technology providers that align with Google's cloud strategy.