Google doesn’t give customers access to Cloudtop

Cloudtop is a piece of software Google employees use to access internal programs. It’s the kind of thing that could help companies that want to keep their employees productive while working from home.

Still, when Google’s cloud customers request a virtual desktop solution, Google directs them to third-party solutions.

Market leaders Amazon, and Microsoft, own virtual desktop services. These companies have experienced an increase in usage during the pandemic.

According to Amazon, after Zoom’s customers’ number rose amid the pandemic, the software company signed up for more than 1K Amazon WorkSpaces virtual desktops. Furthermore, TC Energy, an oil and gas pipeline operator, signed up for Amazon WorkSpaces to enable employees to work from home securely.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, stated that Windows Virtual Desktop usage tripled in the first quarter of 2021.

More about Cloudtop – the virtual desktop service

Initially, Google made Cloudtop service available to its employees in 2017. It offers virtual desktops running the Linux and Windows operating systems right from your web browser. The service helps the users build software and communicate through chat. It is available in 31 languages.

CloudTop looks like a complete computer desktop. However, it is run directly from within a web browser in HTML5 and allows you to edit documents in your CloudMe account utilizing Zoho Office. Moreover, it helps you organize photos using its Photos application and much more.

With the Document Explorer application, you can organize files and folders in your CloudMe account.

CloudTop provides you a cloud file system, desktop, and drag and drop between applications for users of Google Chromebook.

Third-party options don’t really benefit the company

Google issued a paper about Cloudtop in 2018. However, the company has not made the product available for outsiders.

According to a Google spokesperson, the company understands the heightened demand for virtual desktops. Still, Google does not currently plan to offer the product to customers. Alternatively, the company highlights its offerings from third parties.

Partner product promotion gives customers the ability to extend the technologies they use in their data centers to the public cloud. Customers will not be trapped in a proprietary service, the spokesperson said.

That growth benefits Google up to a point. The company takes 20% of the fees charged by third parties to customers.

Still, according to the two people familiar with the company’s cloud business, neither of the third-party options is a huge success.

Michael Silver, an analyst at technology research company Gartner, stated that it was surprising that Google was no longer present in that market.