Google Cloud's $16B Commits Surge & How Dayforce Leverages SIs and Marketplace
Hi, it's Roman Kirsanov from Partner Insight newsletter, where I deconstruct winning Cloud GTM strategies and the latest trends in cloud marketplaces.
This week I'll break down why Google Cloud's $15.8B commits surge and 32% growth acceleration signals massive enterprise AI adoption. We'll discuss Dayforce's Azure Marketplace launch, which shows how successful marketplace strategies amplify existing partner ecosystems. Meanwhile, a16z data underscores the critical "build vs buy" inflection point as LLM spending explodes 200% and enterprises abandon internal development for third-party AI apps instead.
Last week we also hosted our largest Microsoft Marketplace event yet—stay tuned for key highlights in the coming weeks.
But before we dive in, if you find these insights valuable, please subscribe or share this newsletter with your network—it's free.
Why Marketplace Strategies Should Amplify Partners, Not Replace Them
Dayforce, with 50%+ of deals SI-primed (partner-influenced), just unlocked a powerful growth lever. Enterprise customers can now burn their Azure credits to buy its HCM software on marketplace.
Here's how they're turning a cloud marketplace into strategic GTM accelerator.
Dayforce (formerly Ceridian) serves 7,000+ customers globally with unified HR, payroll, and workforce management on a $1.5B ARR platform. Their recent Microsoft Azure Marketplace launch signals more than simple distribution expansion—it's a calculated move to amplify an already successful partner strategy.
The Azure Credit Unlock
"[Customers] can burn down their Azure market credits, which is a big part of the actual partnership," confirmed CEO David Ossip during Q1'25 earnings. This seemingly simple capability removes procurement friction that typically slows enterprise HCM decisions.
But the real strategic value lies in how marketplace integration multiplies existing partner momentum.
From Zero to Partner-Driven Growth Engine
Dayforce's transformation showcases methodical partner program evolution:
2017: Launched System Integrator program
2020: Made SI partnerships core focus
2025: Partners now drive 40% of implementations with "SI prime deals at 50% overall"
Partners amplify the company's global reach:
57 countries covered directly by Dayforce,
150+ additional countries serviced through partners.
CEO Ossip detailed their approach:
"We have different layers or different levels of SI partnerships. We started with the Tier 1s... we have very strong Tier 1 SI partners that we use typically in the large enterprise space. When we go into the enterprise, major markets, and emerging spaces, we typically bring on a different set of SIs along the lines of groups like BDO."
As Ossip emphasized: "The use of the SIs really allows us to scale the organization without building out a tremendously large services organization. It also helps us in terms of building out the pipeline, influence of the actual pipeline, as well."
The Marketplace-Partner Flywheel
The Azure marketplace strategy creates aligned incentives across the ecosystem. Partners benefit from accelerating their ability to position Dayforce within enterprise accounts with existing Microsoft spend.
This creates a virtuous cycle
Strategic takeaways for alliance leaders:
Use marketplace presence to tap cloud commits, remove friction and accelerate deal velocity
Think about partner programs and marketplace as force multipliers
Track partner-influenced deals beyond sourced attribution – Dayforce measures "SI involvement in each of our sales" plus "percentage of kickoffs and projects primed by SIs"
The lesson is clear: successful marketplace strategies amplify existing partner ecosystems rather than replacing them.
How are you structuring your strategy?
AI Apps & Budgets Explode: “What I spent in 2023 I now spend in a week"
a16z's latest research reveals enterprises are abandoning internal AI development in a major shift, while “AI apps growth is gangbusters”
After 200% growth in LLM spending in 2025, enterprises expect another 75% increase next year (a16z). As one CIO noted, "what I spent in 2023 I now spend in a week."
These are not pilots anymore—it's permanent budget lines flowing through centralized IT departments with enterprise-grade procurement requirements.
The "Buy vs Build" Inflection Point
Perhaps the most actionable insight: enterprises are shifting from "build" to "buy" as the AI application ecosystem takes shape. In customer support alone, "over 90% of survey respondents noted that they were testing third-party apps".
3 out of 4 companies in non-regulated industries testing 3rd party AI apps, not LLMs. This number is 40% in regulated industries.
The implications are profound.
Companies are discovering that "internally developed tools are difficult to maintain and frequently don't give them a business advantage" in a space moving this rapidly.
While dedicated solutions can optimize across multiple models and deliver superior outcomes.
The Multi-Model Reality is Here
37% of enterprises now use 5 or more models, up from 29% last year. Organizations are matching specific models to use cases – Anthropic for coding, Google for system design, OpenAI for complex Q&A.
Cloud Infrastructure Takes Center Stage
The hosting data reveals a split strategy: 44% host on CSPs, including on CSP model endpoints (28%) or CSP GPUs.
37% go directly with model providers. Why direct? Leaders want "direct access to the latest model with the best performance as soon as it's available."
Enterprise Procurement Takes Over
Companies now approach AI model selection with disciplined evaluation frameworks, with reliability, security and cost gaining ground on raw performance.
AI buying now mirrors traditional software procurement – complete with checklists, compliance requirements, and price sensitivity.
What This Means for Alliance Leaders:
Move Fast on Apps:
The buy-over-build shift creates a massive opportunity window that won't stay open forever.
Marketplace-First Strategy:
With budgets in core IT and procurement standardizing, cloud marketplaces are set to become the natural transaction layer to manage hundreds of new apps.
Security & Compliance:
These are now table stakes – leverage cloud providers' existing certifications.
The research confirms what many suspected: AI is crossing the chasm from experimentation to production.
For ISVs, the implication is clear – your cloud marketplace and partnership strategies aren't just nice-to-have channels anymore. They're becoming the primary path to capturing this explosive growth.
Google Cloud's $15.8B Commits Surge and 32% Growth Signals Major Enterprise AI Adoption
With AI at the forefront, Google Cloud is re-accelerating—delivering 32% growth in Q2. Plus, their committed cloud backlog jumped $15.8B in just three months (+38% YoY), underscoring GCP's role in the multi-year AI opportunity. Here's a breakdown.
Revenue Surge & AI Impact
GCP delivered $13.6B in Q2 revenue, up 32% YoY—reaccelerating from Q1's 28% and surpassing estimates. This pushes the annual run-rate beyond $50B, driven by booming AI demand.
Deals $250M+ doubled year-over-year, while "in the first half of 2025, we signed the same number of deals over $1 million that we did in all of 2024," CEO Sundar Pichai revealed—another 2X jump in major deals.
Gemini usage grew 35x year-over-year across 85,000+ enterprises showing adoption of AI workflows.
Cloud Commits Surge: Multi-Year Expansion
GCP backlog hit $106B, growing 38% YoY and 18% sequentially. Commits jumped an incredible $15B+ in just the last quarter alone.
This suggests enterprises are increasingly comfortable signing large commits as they deploy AI at scale, with committed spend also partially flowing through GCP's cloud marketplace.
For alliances, this creates an opportunity to leverage commits to co-sell AI solutions via marketplace, speeding up your own GTM.
AgentSpace: Enterprise Appetite for AI Agents
AgentSpace interest highlights the appetite for AI agent usage. "Over 1 million subscriptions have been booked for AgentSpace ahead of its general availability," Pichai emphasized.
AgentSpace is GCP’s platform for AI agents, chat, and search. Its Agent Gallery has integration into Google Cloud Marketplace, pulling in partner-developed agents for seamless deployment.
For Google partners, this will open doors to embed your agents in GCP's ecosystem, tapping into enterprise workflows and fostering interoperability and usage —think faster innovation cycles and shared growth in AI adoption.
Co-opetition: New Rules for the AI era
In a fascinating twist, OpenAI is now using Google Cloud hardware infrastructure.
"We are very excited to be partnering with them on Google Cloud... look forward to investing more in that relationship" Pichai said, showcasing how AI fosters collaboration amid competition.
He highlighted that nearly all Gen AI unicorns and leading AI labs like SSI rely on Google's TPUs.
CapEx Ramp-Up: Sustained Acceleration
To sustain this AI demand, Google upped FY2025 CapEx to ~$85B (from an already high $75B), with Q2 at $22.4B—mostly servers and data centers.
CFO Ashkenazi flagged a "tight demand-supply environment" into 2026, signaling AI demand outpacing capacity. Among hyperscalers, this positions GCP as aggressively investing ($85B trails AWS's $100B+ but for now edges Azure's $80B), ensuring customers and partners have the infrastructure for scalable AI deployments.
It speaks to confidence: GCP is building for leading in AI infrastructure and stack.
What's your strategy for AI alliances and Cloud GTM?
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