Insight Enterprises Peter FitzGibbon explains why he’s seeing customers accelerating out of data centers and into the cloud due to factors like chip shortages, changes from VMware and clients wanting to bet on AI leaders like Google Cloud.
Global solution provider powerhouse Insight Enterprises is seeing an acceleration of clients exiting out of data centers and into the cloud due to several reasons including a lack of access to hardware and cloud providers like Google Cloud leading in the AI era.
“We’re seeing a lot of people now accelerating themselves to get out of the data center,” said Peter FitzGibbon, general manager and senior vice president of Insight’s Google business.
“There’s a couple of things driving it: chip shortages, less access to the gear, better access to the [AI] models in Google Cloud,” FitzGibbon said. “I’m also seeing the cost of power coming up in the equation as well.”
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“Then there’s secondary things around the value of the data center real estate and their ability to renew leases—or maybe if they own a data center, to actually sell it to somebody,” he added. “So it’s something that we’ve excelled at for years—infrastructure migrations. Google Cloud has been one of the cornerstones of our business for migrations.”
Insight Enterprises is an $8.2 billion global channel superstar that made CRN’s MSP Elite 150 list in 2026.
Insight’s Google Cloud Business Showing ‘Strong Double-Digit Growth’
One reason why Insight is seeing customers leave traditional data centers and move into Google Cloud is Google’s “culture of innovation” that “a lot of customers are attracted too,” FitzGibbon said.
“Google’s culture of innovation I think resonates with them. They see, ‘OK, Google has been innovating for decades, and is doing a fantastic job in this agent AI era.’ I think they’re attracted by, ‘If Google is doing this, we should pay attention to it,’” said FitzGibbon.
In the last year, Insight has seen “strong double-digit growth” in its Google Cloud business.
“There’s a huge amount of Google adoption that we’re seeing, an increased in adoption from what you may see as more traditional enterprise companies,” said FitzGibbon, who was a top executive at former Google Cloud partner SADA before it was acquired by Insight in late 2023.
Google’s Enterprise Push Is Working In Multi-Cloud World
FitzGibbon said Google Cloud, under the leadership of CEO Thomas Kurian, has been attracting more enterprise customers.
“Google has evolved their products so well over the last few years, and that’s seeing an increase in enterprise customers,” said FitzGibbon, who has over 20 years of executive experience in the tech industry.
“I don’t think Google is now seen as a risky path. It’s actually seen as a sure thing,” he added.
One strategy that has worked well in Google’s enterprise push is being an open cloud company that’s willing to integrate and support rival companies’ technology, such as Microsoft, in a multiple cloud world.
“As an example, like, Gemini Enterprise has connectors into [Microsoft] SharePoint and [Microsoft] Drive. They’re not avoiding the fact that, to get the best value out of this product, you have to connect to your current tech stack,” FitzGibbon said.
VMware Changes Putting ‘Pressure’ On Infrastructure
Another reason why Insight’s Google Cloud business is seeing customers exit the data center is due to the various changes at VMware since being acquired by Broadcom over the past several years.
Broadcom has eliminated perpetual licensing at VMware and reduced VMware’s portfolio from roughly 4,000 products to just a small handful of platform offerings. On the channel front, VMware has drastically reduced the number of channel partners who can sell VMware, as well as terminating VMware’s former flagship partner program.
VMware’s virtualization and software technology has been a staple in the data center market for decades.
“With the infrastructure pressure, obviously, VMware program changes are having an impact on the entire ecosystem. So that’s another accelerating factor,” said FitzGibbon.
However, Insight has one of the deepest service and solutions portfolios across the world.
“For our customers, we can bring the best for Google Cloud, the best for VMware services, the best for Microsoft services—so they get unbiased advice in terms of what’s best for them,” he said.
Insight Driving Google Sales
Since SADA was acquired by Insight, momentum and synergies continue to accelerate for the company’s Google Cloud business.
“Since the acquisition and the merger into Insight, we’ve had incredible alignment with the Insight public sector business,” said FitzGibbon.
“They are experts in that field. We have state, federal, local education (expertise) and our ability to bring Google Cloud to those public sector customers has been fantastic,” he said. “It’s one of the things that really accelerated over the last year.”
FitzGibbon is bullish about Insight’s Google Cloud business in 2026 and beyond.
“Google is bringing fantastic products and enhancements week after week,” FitzGibbon said. “They consistently help us understand what’s out there. Helps us identify the use cases that will drive value for our business, and then help us build the end products that will drive outcomes for the customer.”
