Google Cloud to Shut Down IoT Core Service

Google Cloud will be retiring its IoT Core service in August next year, citing an inability to properly serve customers with specific IoT needs.

The announcement was made via email to customers, as well as with a banner at the top of the IoT Core webpage.

“Since launching IoT Core, it has become clear that our customers’ needs could be better served by our network of partners that specialize in IoT applications and services,” a Google Cloud spokesperson said.

The announcement has been met with some criticism given Google’s history of suddenly discontinuing services, leaving users to find alternative solutions in a short space of time. One such example is Google’s axing of its Android Things, an Android version for IoT, in 2020.

Google has, however, said it provided a year for this process in light of the anticipated pushback. 

“We have worked extensively to provide customers with migration options and solution alternatives, and are providing a year-long runway before IoT Core is discontinued,” the spokesperson added.

Major competitors to Google Cloud’s IoT offering include Amazon and Microsoft with their Amazon Web Service (AWS) and Azure platforms giving customers similar options for storing and managing data gathered from IoT devices on a single ecosystem. Google launched its IoT service in 2017 as a service for device storage and management, with an initial focus on larger-scale industrial players such as those in the utilities and energy sectors. Since then, however, Google has seen heavy cloud losses, reporting a $858 million deficit in the second quarter of this year, which some say prompted the abrupt platform shutdown.