Google goes on the offensive in corporate cloud business

New York

GOOGLE is playing catch-up in the booming cloud computing market, well behind the early leader, Amazon. But on Thursday, Google made clear that it was ready to go on the offensive.

The company said that Diane B Greene, one of its board members, would now head its cloud business that caters to companies. Larry Page, Google's co-founder and chief executive of the parent company, Alphabet, called her new post a "huge new responsibility at Google". The selection of Ms Greene is sure to make waves in Silicon Valley. The company's focus and heritage has been mainly on online services for consumers, like search and email, supported by advertising. By placing Ms Greene, a respected Silicon Valley entrepreneur and technologist, in charge of its corporate business, Google is signalling that it plans to move forcefully beyond its consumer roots.