GFT wins Google 2019 EMEA Breakthrough Partner of the year award

06 April 2020 – LONDON / NEW YORK / STUTTGART: GFT, a global IT services and software engineering provider driving the digital transformation of the world’s leading companies in the financial and insurance sectors, and the manufacturing industry, wins the prestigious ‘Google Cloud 2019 EMEA Breakthrough Partner of the Year’ award. This award recognises GFT’s work on behalf of customers and the growth in its Google Cloud practice in 2019.

• GFT helped transform a world-class, tier-one bank into an agile cloud first company

• Over 300 Google Cloud certified practitioners, one of the largest teams globally

• Recently launched services for Google Cloud’s Anthos

• Globally recognised for data analytics, security and application development Google Cloud Specialisations

• Authors of Tranquility Base – the ground-breaking open source Datacenter-as-code landing zone application

• GFT increased customer satisfaction rates and doubled Google Cloud revenue income within 12 months

Karl Havard, Google Cloud Alliance Lead at GFT commented: "The last twelve months have been non-stop and GFT being selected as the Google Cloud 2019 EMEA Breakthrough Partner of the Year for Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, is testament to a highly collaborative team effort on all fronts. None of this would have been possible without the full backing of the GFT executive team and many of the key players at Google Cloud. We are also indebted to some of our innovative clients who were pivotal in helping us to win this important award.” Havard highlighted that, whilst overall customer satisfaction rates significantly increased during 2019, a particular highlight for the group was when a client commented: “GFT is as committed to our success as we are," summing up the commitment of the entire GFT delivery team.

"We are proud to recognise GFT’s commitment to enabling customer success on Google Cloud,” said Carolee Gearhart, Vice President, Worldwide Channel Sales at Google Cloud. “GFT has demonstrated strong expertise delivering solutions and services across industries and Google Cloud products. We’re excited to continue working together with GFT to enable organisations’ digital transformations."

Other milestones achieved by GFT in 2019 included the delivery of some 15 Google Cloud- related projects and being awarded global Anthos Partner status, alongside continuing the adoption of Tranquility Base - the ground-breaking, open source, multi-cloud Datacenter-as-code landing zone developed by GFT. GFT is now recognised as a highly innovative thought leader at the leading edge of Google Cloud technologies, evidenced by the addition of a number of new clients from both the financial services and aerospace industries. 

Karl continued: "This award has been hard won and is a fantastic testament to our experience; yet while everyone involved is delighted, we recognise this is just the start of our journey. With GFT’s unwavering support and our ongoing investment in the Google Cloud programme we are looking forward to delivering even more business value to our clients. The potential for GFT and its growing Google Cloud customer base in the future is substantial and we are honoured to be part of this truly ground-breaking team."

David Collins, Executive Board member and Managing Director for the GFT Atlantic region commented: "On behalf of the GFT Executive Board I wholeheartedly congratulate the team for winning this prestigious award. No one should underestimate the enormous effort that went into this programme, which has also contributed to making 2019 a landmark year for our business. Helping to transform one of the world’s largest banks into an agile, cloud first company has created a solid blueprint for change. And not just for financial services firms, but for others across many industries who are looking to accelerate their own cloud migration journey."

A further example of GFT’s pioneering capability is the firm’s involvement in developing Google Cloud’s connected car solution which was showcased at the recent Google Cloud Next 19 event in London. This solution is a ground-breaking Google Cloud-based, AI-led initiative that evaluates driver and / or fleet behavioural data in real-time.

Collins concluded: "I firmly believe that our continuing growth record has been driven by two key fundamentals; our proven ability to deliver innovative, technology-led solutions and our exceptional customer service. This commitment to excellence throughout everything we do has enabled us to become one of the world’s fastest-growing Google Cloud partners. We look forward to building even deeper, more productive relationships with both Google and our customers over the coming months and years."