CEE companies used to be behind Western Europe in adopting digital tech like cloud computing, but now they’re catching up fast. That said, even though many industries are experiencing rapid digital transformation, a lot of work remains before the cloud goes truly mainstream in the region. In all CEE countries, except Estonia, fewer than 50% of businesses use cloud services. For Bulgaria and Romania, this number is still below 15%.
Recent research by Google and the Connected Commerce Council found that 80% of small businesses increased their use of digital tools during the past few years. It’s clear that to stay competitive and boost efficiency, businesses need to adopt digital solutions early on.
However, a big question is: once a business decides to use digital tools, where do they start? How do they create an effective plan to get the most of the cloud? For many, becoming a top expert in cloud computing isn’t a top business priority.
This fast-growing market offers a great opportunity for companies like Europe Cloud. As a Premier Partner of Google Cloud the Sofia-based team has already gained a lot of domain experience by supporting over 2000 projects across 20 countries.
Being named as Google Cloud’s Regional Expansion Partner of the Year for 2023, Europe Cloud has established successful partnerships across over 20 countries in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. The company’s commitment to customer satisfaction and a detail-oriented approach have been instrumental in transforming businesses across numerous sectors, including Gaming, Finance, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, Telecommunications, Media, Logistics, and Supply Chain.
Cloud Success Story
Europe Cloud started in Sofia, Bulgaria in 2019 with the mission to guide clients through their digital transformation and help them get the most from the public cloud. In just two years, the company reached around €3 million in annual revenue, with an impressive 566% YoY growth in 2021. It was recently announced that the company was among the top 10 fastest-growing IT companies in Bulgaria for 2022 as well.
Today, Europe Cloud continues to grow and has even more ambitious plans: Jordan Mladenov, Managing Director, says, “Our goal for the next 12 months is to grow our team by 2 to 3 times to meet the increasing demand for our services. We’re also planning to boost our presence in Greece and potentially expand into other countries in Central and Eastern Europe.”
Europe Cloud has become one of the largest Google Cloud Premier Partners for the Sell Engagement Model in CEE and its DevOps team’s expertise covers the full range of Google Cloud products and services portfolio. Despite its strong technical knowledge, the real value of the company comes from its consulting roots, with the team being driven by values like focus on outstanding customer results, transparency, and simplicity.
Making sense of data for an AI future
To best use Google Cloud services, businesses have to start by looking at specific goals and challenges the cloud can address. With so many options, talking to experienced consultants can be very helpful. For example, financial companies can use the cloud to simplify compliance, increase security, and reduce system complexity. Healthcare providers can use cloud tech to improve their processes and patient experiences. Retailers can change their entire business process, optimizing areas like logistics, marketing, and overall business results.
Today, with AI growing fast, if a business can organize and use its data well, it can find big growth opportunities. But this is easier said than done. Google Cloud points out that there are challenges related to data access, storage, inconsistent tooling, compliance, or security that make it difficult to unlock the full potential of data.
There are many considerations that should be kept in mind: Maybe a business is trying to combine old systems with new ones. Should all their data be in one cloud or spread out over many? How do you update old data systems to work with newer, bigger platforms?
Maybe a company is looking at batches of data instead of seeing it in real time. This makes the system more complicated and requires more effort to keep up. It’s also more expensive, and the data isn’t as fresh.
If you can’t easily get business-critical data and use it right away, you’re at a disadvantage. Modern tech should be fast, use the latest data, and handle all kinds of information. These are important things to think about before you decide on your cloud setup.
Principles like simplicity, scalability, and agility seem obvious for the development of cloud and data systems. But to make these ideas work, you need a deep understanding of the whole process, something the team of Europe Cloud has mastered over the years.
Furthermore, the company is already ahead of the curve with future AI tools coming on the market: “We’ve noticed a trend among our clients – they’re increasingly open to experimenting and incorporating AI technologies into their operations,” Mladenov explains. “To meet this demand, a number of our technical professionals are securing their Data Science certificates issued by Google. This showcases our expertise in AI and our commitment to staying at the forefront of industry trends.”
The Google Cloud Marketplace: A World of Opportunities
But what can you actually do with Google Cloud solutions? Well, the possibilities are vast, ranging from data storage and transfer to data analytics and building advanced AI applications. Europe Cloud can provide in-depth support with the architecting, development, management, and ongoing optimization across the whole range of tools: from data management through the deployment and scaling of ML/AI models to network connectivity and cybersecurity. Let’s explore a few examples.
Products like the Security Command Center and BeyondCorp are designed to boost business security measures. The Security Command Center offers clear visibility and control over security data, while BeyondCorp champions a zero-trust security approach, guaranteeing safe access to applications from anywhere and on any device.
For businesses aiming to harness the power of AI, VertexAI presents a streamlined platform for creating, deploying, and expanding AI models. In the realm of data management, BigQuery facilitates rapid SQL queries and provides immediate insights, whereas Cloud Spanner delivers a comprehensive relational database service that is scalable without limits.
Compute Engine and Cloud Networking, respectively, provide powerful solutions for cloud computing and network connectivity. Compute Engine supports large-scale workloads, while Cloud Networking promises the best in performance, security, and cost-effectiveness for cloud networking setups.
VisionAI, endowed with machine learning features, empowers applications to interpret image content, enhancing the way businesses engage with visual information.
With all these choices, the main question is: what are your business goals? If you want to see how the cloud can help, you can reach out to Europe Cloud for an introductory brainstorming meeting.
As a trusted Google Cloud Partner, Europe Cloud brings a unique blend of local market understanding and global technological trends. The company’s deep roots in the Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region allow it to bridge the gap between global cloud technology and local business needs, making the transition to cloud services smoother and more tailored for businesses in the region.
