Microsoft’s Charlie Bell Starts New Job, Google Cloud Honors Top Partners

It’s early in the week but already a lot’s happening on the cloud front. We’ll start with an update on Microsoft’s (formerly Amazon Web Services’) Charlie Bell. If you’ve been following his recent career move, you’ll want to get the latest in this news roundup. And we have a rundown of Google Cloud’s top partners for 2020. The cloud provider announced the winners on Tuesday at Google Cloud Next ’21. You’ll spot familiar – and maybe some new – names, both globally and regionally. Finally, Oracle Cloud is making some big international moves. Find out what’s going on and how the channel benefits.

With ‘Constructive Discussions’ Done, Charlie Bell Starts Microsoft Job

Microsoft has confirmed that, after “constructive discussions” with rival Amazon Web Services, senior executive Charlie Bell has started in his new role.

Charlie Bell

Recall that the two companies were at loggerheads over Bell’s move from AWS to Microsoft. Bell, long considered in the running to replace Andy Jassy as AWS CEO, left his longtime employer this past summer after the coveted appointment didn’t happen for him. Tableau’s Adam Selipsky got the job instead.

In August, Microsoft confirmed that it had hired Bell, but was waiting for him to begin because of non-compete obstacles. With some restrictions, non-compete clauses are still enforceable in Washington state, which both Microsoft and AWS call home.

Then, last month, Microsoft said it had named Bell the leader of its new division, the Security, Compliance, Identity and Management Group. Even so, Bell wasn’t able to actually work amid ongoing legal wrangling between Microsoft and AWS. Those negotiations have come to a close. Microsoft spokesman Frank Shaw told GeekWire Monday that Bell kicked off this week in full gear.

“After constructive discussions with Amazon, Charlie Bell started his new role on Oct. 11, focused on advancing cybersecurity capabilities that will benefit the tech sector and the broader economy,” Shaw said.

Google Cloud Lauds 2020 Partners

Every year at Google Cloud Next and Partner Summit, Google Cloud names its top partners for the previous 12 months. On Tuesday, the world’s third-largest public cloud provider stayed true to form and announced the winners of its 2020 partner awards.

Globally, the winners are:

On a regional level, the winners are:

Oracle Cloud Set to Open 14 More Regions

Oracle will open 14 cloud regions across Europe, the Middle East, Asia Pacific and Latin America over the next year. That will give the company’s channel partners more places in which to offer cloud services.

Specifically, those data centers will reside in Milan, Stockholm, Marseille, Spain, Singapore, Johannesburg, Jerusalem, Mexico and Colombia. Oracle Cloud will launch second regions in Abu Dhabi, Saudi Arabia, France, Israel and Chile. The company intends to run at least 44 cloud regions by the end of next year.

“Oracle Cloud Infrastructure has seen stellar growth over the past year,” said Clay Magouyrk, executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. “We’ve introduced several hundred new cloud services and features and are continuing to see organizations from around the world increasingly turn to OCI to run their most mission-critical workloads in the cloud. With the additional cloud regions, even more organizations will be able to use our cloud services to support their growth and overall success.”

Ultimately, Oracle plans to establish at least two cloud regions in almost every country where it operates. The U.S., Canada, U.K., South Korea, Japan, Brazil, India and Australia already have two cloud regions.