Industry experts feel that Google won’t experience buyer’s remorse from its recent $32 billion purchase of Wiz after it reaps the benefits from its big buy.
Last week, the tech giant announced an agreement to acquire the Israel-based cloud security platform, valued at $12 billion, after an initial deal to purchase the company for $23 billion fell through late last year.
Living large. Wiz is Google’s largest purchase to date, topping its previous $12.5 billion acquisition of Motorola Mobility in 2012—which it sold to Lenovo for $2.91 billion just two years later. But security leaders who spoke with IT Brew claim the hefty price tag is worth it. Anetac security platform co-founder and CEO Timothy Eades called Google’s latest buy a “tactical win” for bolstering its security stance. However, Eades said the real gain is the telemetry capability the tech giant will acquire, an advantage he said makes the $32 billion price tag look like a steal.
“You now have incredible telemetry sources about how applications interact with cloud infrastructure,” Eades said. “Roll that into an AI model and then you can transform your cloud and…maybe even build applications better and stronger as a result.”
Ian Paterson, CEO of Plurilock, told us that the purchase is Google’s attempt to “stay relevant” in security and will allow it to keep pace with Microsoft, known for its bundled solutions.
“For Google, who doesn’t have the same bundling capability that Microsoft does, they really have to compete on the basis of having better technology,” Paterson said. “And Wiz, at least if you measure capability by how fast you’re growing, Wiz has one of the most capable cloud security offerings on the market.”
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Industry lift. Google’s acquisition of Wiz is not only a good move for the two companies, but also good news for the startup’s competitors and the remainder of the cybersecurity industry. Eades said that the purchase will spur momentum for cybersecurity acquisitions and that direct competitors, like Aqua Security and Orca Security, should be “popping corks” following the news.
“The first one always gets the most money,” Eades said. “It’s like musical chairs. If you go first, you get the best seat. If you go second, you get a pretty good seat.”
Gil Geron, co-founder and CEO of Orca, told IT Brew that the purchase is “great news” for his company as it highlights the opportunity present in the market right now.
“Obviously, it does create a lot of buzz and opportunity because we are their main competitor, and we are very, very glad to see the momentum continues,” he said.
Market share bets. Google Cloud had a global market share of 12% in Q4 of 2024, trailing behind Amazon Web Services (30%) and Microsoft Azure (21%), according to Synergy Research Group. Eades told IT Brew that Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian “shoots the long game really well” and that the company’s recent purchase will ultimately help the cloud giant gain market share, even if the results aren’t noticed immediately.
“Does it help their market share in 2025 or even 2026? Probably not much,” Eades said. “But, 2026, 2027, 2028? Sure.”