And then there were two: Simplifying our product launch stages

A product’s launch stage signals important information to the user about its production-worthiness, supportability, polish, and price. Google Cloud Platform (GCP) products have traditionally traveled through four launch stages—Early Access, Alpha, Beta and General Availability—and today, we are simplifying those down to just two: Preview and General Availability. 

Going forward, all new GCP products will launch in Preview or General Availability (GA). At Preview, products or features are ready for you to test and evaluate. In addition, we’ll typically announce GA pricing for a product at the Preview stage, helping you to make informed decisions. At General Availability products are stable and ready for production use. 

These new simplified product launch stages roll out immediately. We hope these changes give you the confidence and predictability you need to run your business on Google Cloud.