New to Google Cloud Partner Network? Your first 90 days
Google Cloud Partner Network is Google's partner program, announced on December 16, 2025. It has Select, Premier and a new Diamond tier, three paths (selling with Google, services and technology), and competencies. It covers ISVs, services firms and other partner types. A new company joins by choosing Become a partner on Google's partner home page.
For a head of partnerships at a company new to Google Cloud partnering, across resell, services and software.As of
What does it take to join?
| Requirement | What Google states | Role it applies to |
|---|---|---|
| Enrol your company | What Google statesChoose Become a partner on Google's partner home page. If your company already has a partner account, choose Register as a user to join it | Role it applies toAny |
| Tiers rest on customer outcomes | What Google statesTiers reflect joint customer successes and are determined by customer outcomes across Google Cloud and Google Workspace. Google says it will apply every successful customer engagement toward a partner's progress in all eligible tiers and competencies | Role it applies toAny |
| Select tier | What Google statesPartners that have shown a baseline of foundational knowledge and successful client engagements | Role it applies toAny |
| Premier tier | What Google statesPartners with a significant investment in certified technical resources and a consistent history of driving customer outcomes at scale | Role it applies toAny |
| Diamond tier | What Google statesGoogle's highest level of partnership, for the deepest global commitment to Google technology and large-scale, complex customer deployments | Role it applies toAny |
| Certifications and credentials | What Google statesGoogle's partner learning page says certifications and credentials are a requirement for Select, Premier and Diamond on the selling and services paths. It states no numbers | Role it applies toResell, Services |
| Competencies | What Google statesMeasured on capacity (skills, validated by technical certifications and sales credentials) and capability (real-world success, measured by contributions to validated closed and won opportunities) | Role it applies toAny |
| Reselling Marketplace products | What Google statesAccepted in Google Cloud Partner Network, authorized in its Resale Subprogram, and the software vendor has turned on reselling for the product | Role it applies toResell |
| Listing software on Marketplace | What Google statesYour organization must join Google Cloud Partner Network before it lists software | Role it applies toSoftware |
| Transition window | What Google statesGoogle's announcement describes a six-month transition window from the Q1 2026 launch and doesn't state what happens to existing tiers during it | Role it applies toAny |
Google's public pages give no tier thresholds, such as certification counts or customer-outcome targets, and no list of benefits for each tier. Those are set in Google's partner portal, so confirm them there before you set a target.
Which ways in fit your company?
Every way into Google Cloud Partner Network that Google's public pages describe is below. Program names are Google's own. Google's partner home page says paths are customized to your business, and doesn't say which role each path needs, so the role column shows where another Google page states one.
Google uses three labels for the same groups. Its partner paths are Selling with Google, Services and Technology. Its support pages call partner types Sell, Build and Service. This site's role tags are Resell, Services and Software. Selling with Google lines up roughly with Sell and Resell, Services with Service and Services, and Technology with Build and Software.
Paths, tiers and competencies
| Path | What it gives you | Role it needs | Works with others? |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selling with Google path (“Co-sell” is Google's path name) | What it gives youA path for companies that focus on selling with Google. Google states no steps or benefits | Role it needsAny | Works with others?Check with Google Cloud |
| Services path | What it gives youA path for companies that focus on services, with recognition for service delivery and post-sales support | Role it needsServices | Works with others?Check with Google Cloud |
| Technology path | What it gives youA path for companies that focus on technology. Google states no steps or benefits | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Check with Google Cloud |
| Select, Premier and Diamond tiers | What it gives youRecognition at three levels, from a baseline of foundational knowledge to Google's highest level of partnership | Role it needsAny | Works with others?Check with Google Cloud |
| Competency (Product, Solution, Industry) and Advanced Competency | What it gives youRecognition for skills and real-world success in one category, at two levels. Competencies replace today's specializations | Role it needsAny | Works with others?Stack: operates independently from tiering, so a competency doesn't depend on a tier |
| Subprograms | What it gives youPrograms for a smaller group of partners that share an objective, such as ongoing managed services or building capacity for specific products. Google states no criteria | Role it needsServices, Software | Works with others?Check with Google Cloud |
| Resale Subprogram | What it gives youAuthorization to resell vendors' Marketplace products | Role it needsResell | Works with others?Sequence: accepted in Google Cloud Partner Network first |
| Marketplace listing | What it gives youPuts your product in front of Google Cloud customers | Role it needsSoftware | Works with others?Sequence: join Google Cloud Partner Network first |
Which of these fit depends on whether you sell, deliver services or build, which Google products your customers use and how much certified staff and customer experience you already have.
What could the first 90 days look like?
Illustrative. One services company that has just decided to join. This shows what Google's pages make possible, not what any company should do. A software company or a reseller would follow a different sequence: a reseller would also need authorization in the Resale Subprogram before it resells, and a software company would join the network before it lists a product.
- First 30 days
Enrol and check the requirements
- Choose Become a partner on Google's partner home page and enrol. A colleague who already works with Google Cloud uses Register as a user to join the new account
- Read Google's partner learning page to see which certifications and credentials the services path asks for
- Check the partner portal for the thresholds the public pages don't state
- Days 31–60
Start earning certifications
- Start earning certifications, since Google ties certifications and credentials to the tiers on the services path
- Confirm in the portal how the six-month transition window applies to the company, because Google's public pages don't say
- Days 61–90
Bank the first customer engagements
- Close a first set of customer engagements. Google says it will apply every successful engagement toward a partner's progress in all eligible tiers and competencies
- Check in the portal how that progress is shown, and which competency categories the work falls into
Google Cloud has the paths. Playmaker finds yours.
You’ve just seen how much Google Cloud offers: programs, funding, listings, specialists and the many ways they combine. All of it is real, and much of it can run at the same time. Which of it fits your company depends on your tier, your roles and your deals.
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- Built for your mix. Reseller and services, a Marketplace listing and competencies, several funding programs at once. Playmaker works out how they fit together for your company, not for a generic partner.
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What does your playbook show?
Frequently
asked questions
The short answers for new Google Cloud partners. Playmaker shows you the rest in 3 minutes.
Google's partner program, announced on December 16, 2025 with a rollout planned for the first quarter of 2026. It has three tiers, three paths and competencies.
Choose Become a partner on Google's partner home page. If your company already has a partner account, choose Register as a user.
No. Google's announcement says the competency framework operates independently from tiering, so a partner can earn a competency without a program tier.
Google's public pages don't say. Its partner learning page says certifications and credentials are a requirement for the tiers on the selling and services paths. Check the numbers in Google's partner portal.
Google's public pages describe the paths separately and don't say how they apply to a company that fits several. The Marketplace documentation adds that resellers and software vendors both join the network first, so check with Google Cloud.
Google's announcement describes a six-month transition window and says competencies replace today's specializations. It doesn't state the end date or the rules, so check with Google Cloud.
Sources
The Google Cloud pages this page reads, all accessed Nov 4, 2026. Program names and terms belong to Google Cloud.
Google Cloud is a trademark of Google LLC. WorkSpan is not affiliated with or endorsed by Google Cloud.
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