Google Cloud named a leader in latest Forrester Research IaaS Platform Native Security Wave

The adoption of cloud services has created a generational opportunity to meaningfully improve information security and reduce risk. As an organization moves applications and data to the cloud, they can take advantage of native security capabilities in their cloud platform. Done well, use of these engineered-in platform capabilities can simplify security to the extent that it becomes almost invisible to users, reducing operational complexity, favorably altering the balance of shared responsibility for customers, and decreasing the need for highly specialized security talent. At Google Cloud, we call the result Invisible Security, and it requires a foundation of innovative, powerful, best-in-class native security controls. Given the importance of these capabilities to our strategy, we are happy to announce today that Forrester Research has again named Google Cloud as one of just two leaders in The Forrester Wave™ Infrastructure-as-a-Service Platform Native Security (IPNS), Q4 2020 report, and rated Google Cloud highest among providers evaluated in the current offering category.

The report evaluates the native security capabilities and features of cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) platform providers such as storage and data security, identity and access management, network security and hardware & hypervisor security. 

The report states that “Google has been steadily investing in its offering and has added many new security features, including Anthos (a service to manage non-Google public and private clouds) and Security Command Center Premium” and notes that the Google Cloud features of “data leak prevention (DLP) capabilities, integration support for external hardware security modules (HSMs), and third-party threat intelligence source integration are also nice.” 

The report also emphasizes the increasing importance of extending consistent security capabilities across hybrid and multi-cloud deployments, stating “vendors that can provide comprehensive IPNS, not only for their own platforms but also for competing public and private cloud and on premises workloads and platforms, position themselves to successfully evolve into their customers’ security central nervous systems” and notes in Google’s vendor profile that “Anthos is ahead of the competition when it comes to managing non-Google, third-party clouds.”

In this Wave, Forrester evaluated seven cloud platforms against 29 criteria, looking at current offerings, strategy and market presence. Of the seven vendors, Google Cloud scored highest overall in the current offering category, and received the highest score possible in its plans for security posture management, hypervisor security, guest OS and container protection, and network security criteria.

Further, Google Cloud’s had the highest possible score in the execution roadmap criterion. Google Cloud continues to redefine what’s possible in the cloud with unique security capabilities like External Key Manager, Key Access Justifications, Assured Workloads, Confidential VMs, Binary Authorization, IAM Recommender, and enabling a zero trust architecture for customers with BeyondCorp. Elaborating on Google Cloud’s roadmap, the report noted:

“The vendor plans to: 1) invest in providing customers with digital sovereignty across data, operations and software in the cloud; 2) expand security for multicloud and cross-cloud environments; and 3) increase support for Zero Trust and identity-based and richer policy creation.” 

Google Cloud also received the highest possible score for the partner ecosystem strategy criterion. As further validation of the strength of our platform’s native capabilities, numerous Google Cloud security partners have chosen to take advantage of our platform to run and deliver their own security offerings:

"At ForgeRock we help people safely access the connected world. We put a premium on security because our customers and our business depend on digital experiences that can withstand and prevent cyber attacks and bad actors," said Fran Rosch, CEO of ForgeRock. “Our partnership with Google Cloud gives us access to unique security platform capabilities that help us meet customer needs and strengthens our position as a global identity and access management leader.”

We are honored to be a Leader in The Forrester Wave™ IaaS Platform Native Security Q4 2020 report, and look forward to continuing to innovate and partner with you on ways to make your digital transformation journey safer and more secure. 

Download the full The Forrester Wave™ IaaS Platform Native Security (IPNS), Q4 2020 report.

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