Google has acquired Wiz for $32 billion in an all-cash deal that will add to Google Cloud's revenue growth going forward.
The two companies were reportedly in talks about a deal valued at $23 billion a year ago. With the move, Google Cloud is leaning into cybersecurity since it already owns Mandiant.
According to Google, the Wiz purchase will give Google Cloud the ability to combine AI and cloud security across multiple clouds.
Wiz has a security platform that connects to multiple clouds and code environments including AWS, Microsoft Azure and Oracle Cloud. The company caters to companies and organizations of multiple sizes. Google said the combination of Wiz and Google Cloud will automate security at scale, lower costs, use AI to protect against new threats and respond to breaches and boost adoption.
Thomas Kurian, Google Cloud CEO, laid out the rationale for the Wiz purchase on a conference call:
"With Wiz, we believe we will vastly improve how security is designed, operated and automated, providing an end to end security platform for customers to prevent, detect and respond to incidents across all major clouds and code environments. Wiz is already an important Google Cloud partner. Wiz was recognized as our security partner of the year, and by coming together, we believe we can help customers create a stronger foundation for cloud security with a portfolio that solves for tomorrow's requirements. Our vision is to bring each of our unique strengths together to offer customers and partners a highly differentiated, Unified Security Platform."
When the deal closes, Google Cloud will include Google Threat Intelligence, Google Security Operations and Mandiant Consulting as well as Wiz. Kurian said Wiz will remain committed to offering multi-cloud security. Also: Google Cloud revenue up 30% in Q4, Alphabet results mixed
Constellation Research's take
Chirag Mehta, analyst at Constellation Research covering cybersecurity, said:
"Google's acquisition of Wiz underscores the growing importance of cloud security, particularly as enterprises accelerate large AI workloads into the cloud. However, Google faces considerable challenges in successfully closing this acquisition. The $3.2 billion termination fee—nearly 10% of the deal's total value—provides Wiz with significant protection, reflecting potential regulatory uncertainty that previously disrupted similar negotiations. Although Wiz has been a strategic partner to Google Cloud, a substantial portion of its customer base currently uses Azure and AWS.
Google’s experience with multi-cloud offerings through previous acquisitions, such as Looker, will be beneficial. Nevertheless, delivering cloud-native security solutions on cloud platforms outside its direct control introduces an entirely new set of complexities. Google's ability to navigate these challenges—while retaining Wiz’s existing Azure and AWS customers—will be crucial to making this acquisition successful in the long term."
Recommendations for customers from Mehta, who has been tracking Google's purchase of Wiz for a year:
"If you are currently a Wiz customer but not on Google Cloud, we strongly recommend you to engage proactively with Wiz and Google to understand the roadmap for continued support and integration on non-Google Cloud environments. Given the regulatory uncertainty around this acquisition, customers running workloads primarily on Azure or AWS should ensure they have clear contingency strategies to safeguard their cybersecurity investments.
If you're a Google Cloud customer but not currently using Wiz, we encourage you to evaluate Wiz’s capabilities alongside Google Cloud’s native as well as integrated third-party cybersecurity offerings, as cybersecurity is set to become a strategic focus and significant investment priority for Google Cloud. This acquisition signals deeper, more integrated cybersecurity capabilities, as Google Cloud continues to grow.
According to Google Cloud, the addition of Wiz will create a unified security platform, threat intelligence and new threat protection along with AI agents."
