Verizon Business gained a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) peering certification gold star that will make it easier for enterprise customers to select the carrier as a conduit between their on-premises environment and hyperscaler.

Google Cloud pinned a “Gold Verified Peering Provider” certification to Verizon Business’ likely well-pressed suit jacket, which puts it among a handful of communication network providers to gain that approval tier from the hyperscaler’s recently launched Verified Peering Provider (VPP) program. Some of those other providers called to the head of the class include Lumen, AT&T, Arelion, Vodafone, Deutsche Telekom and KDDI.

Google introduced the VPP program earlier this year. It’s designed to simplify the selection of a peering source for enterprise customers.

Peering is typically described as a connection method enterprises use between their internal private cloud or on-premises data centers and a public cloud. These connections are usually over dedicated lines operated by internet service providers (ISPs) or can be directly controlled by a cloud provider.

Enterprises have traditionally needed to work through different ISP options for so-called “direct peering” services, which can be complex and time consuming. Google stated that its VPP program simplifies that process.

“The Verified Peering Provider program identifies ISPs that offer enterprise-grade internet services and have met multiple technical requirements, including diverse peering connectivity to Google,” Dave Schwartz, senior product manager for Google Global Networking, explained in blog post. “With this list of Verified Peering Providers, you get visibility into where Google is connected to our Verified Peering Providers, so you can select a provider who can handle all the complexities of peering with Google.”

Schwartz added that this can be important for enterprises that need support for latency sensitive applications like secure access service edge (SASE) or are migrating SD-WAN options to Google Cloud.

“These customers need to know where ISPs are connected to Google’s network with sufficient levels of redundancy to achieve low-latency and highly available connectivity,” Schwartz wrote.

Debika Bhattacharya, chief technology solutions officer for Verizon Business, told SDxCentral that the certification shows that Verizon’s network is up to that task.

“What this does is it just gives customers who are using GCP that peace of mind that they have an internet service provider who can meet and exceed the needs and give them the performance that they need to help them connect to their Google applications,” Bhattacharya said.

Bhattacharya added that the certification also reinforces what Verizon Business has been touting.

“We had already built a high-performance network that has the availability, the reliability, the security, all of that, that was necessary for us to connect to cloud providers,” Bhattacharya said.

Bhattacharya did note that this performance support is increasingly important for enterprises that have multiple applications like SASE and SD-WAN and also need to connect into multicloud networking environments.

“The value of our network to connect not just to Google, but to connect to [Amazon Web Services] and to connect to [Microsoft] Azure, and what this allows our customers to do is many of our enterprise customers have more than one cloud provider and so we built a capabilities that allows very seamless interworking across multiple cloud providers so if you have peak times or if you have capacity issues that you have very simple multicloud networking,” Bhattacharya said.

The certification also highlights growing interest in peering connections handling increased traffic from artificial intelligence (AI) services. Bhattacharya said this is a topic Verizon Business is hearing of from its customers and something it’s labeling as an “AI fabric.”

Verizon Business’ approach to this architecture taps into that already established network model, which it can extend out through its growing edge and mobile edge compute (multi-access edge computing (MEC)) infrastructure.

“We also in the past couple of years built storage and computing into our network as part of our mobile edge compute,” Bhattacharya said. “The conversations we're having with many of our customers now about generative AI and the massive amounts of data that they don't expect to transport between the hyperscalers with their training models might be located with the edge applications or inferencing models that are at the edge. They need a high-performance network to enable those use cases, and this is this high-performance network that connects locations, connects devices, connects users, connects manufacturing locations, headquarters, all those to the hyperscaler data centers, along with the edge compute that is going to be a game changer.”

Verizon CEO Hans Vestberg has been touting this MEC opportunity for years, even admitting that perhaps he has been more bullish on the opportunity than the market has been ready to accept.

Bhattacharya also noted that the Google certification alongside that of Verizon Business’ rivals does put pressure on the carrier to remain aggressive in the market.

“The way we look at it is now we have a badge – using Google's terms – from a from a third-party, from a cloud provider that says Verizon meets their requirements to run their applications,” Bhattacharya said. “But then amongst ourselves we would still continue to highlight the capabilities of our network compared to the Lumen’s and the AT&T’s.”

That competitive spirit is important for Verizon Business, which includes the carrier’s wireless and wireline services targeted at enterprise and public-sector customers. Those services include its ThingSpace IoT, 5G MEC, private 5G, security, managed services provider (MSP) and Virtual Network Services (VNS).

Verizon earlier this year slashed the value of its business operating unit, citing a downturn in the division that highlighted the company’s ongoing challenges in converting that business toward new technology opportunities.

Verizon in a Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing stated that the devaluation was part of the carrier’s most recent five-year strategic planning review. That review found a notable downturn in its business unit over the past year, which resulted in Verizon recording a $5.8 billion impairment during the fourth quarter of last year for that operating unit.

Verizon specifically cited “secular declines as well as continuing competitive and macroeconomic pressure, in wireline revenue across its customer groups.”

To help combat this malaise, Verizon Business CEO Kyle Malady recently stated that the operating unit would shut down “products and services that are not helping us grow.”

“This will allow us to refocus resources in the areas that will move the needle for us going forward,” Malady said during the carrier’s recent sell-side analyst meeting. Malady cited Verizon Business shutting down its BlueJeans video conferencing service as an example.

Scott Lawrence, SVP for global solutions at Verizon Business, told SDxCentral earlier this year that these outside influences were not impacting Verizon Business’s approach to 2024.

“Our pipeline is strong. Our global customers are excited to hear from us and the thought leadership we can bring,” Lawrence said. “I’m approaching this year, like I do every year, as a big year, and I’m excited for it.”