--- title: "Google Cloud Partner Network Tiers Explained" url: https://www.suger.io/resources/blog/google-cloud-partner-network-tiers/ canonical: https://www.suger.io/resources/blog/google-cloud-partner-network-tiers/ type: Blog description: "Learn how Google Cloud Partner Network tiers—Select, Premier, and Diamond—work, plus competencies, Marketplace requirements, and co-sell paths." --- # Google Cloud Partner Network Tiers Explained > Canonical HTML version: https://www.suger.io/resources/blog/google-cloud-partner-network-tiers/ 1. [Home](/) 2. / 3. [Resources](/resources/) 4. / 5. [Blog](/resources/blog/) 6. / 7. Google Cloud Partner Network Tiers Explained # Google Cloud Partner Network Tiers Explained Google Cloud replaced Partner Advantage with the Google Cloud Partner Network: three tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond — and a competency framework in place of specializations. Here is how the structure works for an ISV. [![Samantha Ho](/authors/samantha-ho.jpg)](/resources/blog/author/samantha-ho/) [Samantha Ho](/resources/blog/author/samantha-ho/) Aug 20, 2026 ![Google Cloud Partner Network Tiers Explained](/images/blog/google-cloud-partner-advantage-tiers/hero.png) Explore AI Summary [![](/logos/company/openai.svg)](https://chat.openai.com/?q=Read%20and%20summarize%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suger.io%2Fresources%2Fblog%2Fgoogle-cloud-partner-network-tiers%2F%2C%20then%20cite%20the%20source.%20Focus%20on%20what%20it%20says%20about%20GCP. "Summarize with ChatGPT")[![](/logos/company/anthropic.svg) ](https://claude.ai/new?q=Read%20and%20summarize%20https%3A%2F%2Fwww.suger.io%2Fresources%2Fblog%2Fgoogle-cloud-partner-network-tiers%2F%2C%20then%20cite%20the%20source.%20Focus%20on%20what%20it%20says%20about%20GCP. 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"Summarize with Perplexity") Table of Contents - [What is the Google Cloud Partner Network?](#what-is-the-google-cloud-partner-network) - [The tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond](#the-tiers--select-premier-and-diamond) - [Competencies — what replaced specializations](#competencies--what-replaced-specializations) - [The partner paths — co-selling, services, and technology](#the-partner-paths--co-selling-services-and-technology) - [Where Marketplace and co-sell actually connect](#where-marketplace-and-co-sell-actually-connect) - [Frequently asked questions](#frequently-asked-questions) - [Takeaways](#takeaways) _The Google Cloud Partner Network is Google Cloud’s partner program — announced in December 2025 to replace Google Cloud Partner Advantage — with three tiers (Select, Premier, and Diamond) and a competency framework in place of the old specializations. Tiers reflect customer outcomes; competencies reflect proven expertise; and Google Cloud Marketplace is where an ISV’s product is sold and metered._ * * * > **Updated August 2026.** Google announced the **Google Cloud Partner Network** in December 2025 as the successor to **Google Cloud Partner Advantage**, with a rollout beginning in the first quarter of 2026 and a transition window for existing partners. If you came here looking for the former **Member / Partner / Premier** tiers or “specializations,” those are superseded by the tiers and competencies described below. This post describes the current program. * * * An alliances leader joining a Google Cloud motion often inherits one confused sentence: “we need to hit Premier.” Until recently that meant a tier inside the old Partner Advantage program. The program has changed, and so has what “Premier” means. Google Cloud’s partner program is now the **Google Cloud Partner Network**, and it recognizes partners on two independent axes — a **tier** that reflects the customer outcomes you drive, and **competencies** that reflect the expertise you can prove. Aiming at a tier without understanding both axes is like aiming at “senior” without naming the job. This is the current structure, described so you can locate yourself in it before you commit a quarter of partner-ops time to advancing. It is built from how Google itself frames the program, and it deliberately states no revenue thresholds, certification counts, or fees — those are numbers Google does not publish openly and revises over time, and an alliances plan built on a guessed figure ages the day Google updates the page. * * * ## What is the Google Cloud Partner Network? **The Google Cloud Partner Network is Google Cloud’s partner program: one framework that recognizes partners through three tiers and a set of competencies, built around three stated principles — simplicity, outcomes, and automation.** Google [announced it in December 2025](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/partners/introducing-google-cloud-partner-network) as the successor to Partner Advantage, with the rollout beginning in early 2026. Two design choices matter for how you plan. First, the program **rewards customer outcomes** — co-sell wins, delivered deployments, and consumption on Google Cloud — rather than membership activity for its own sake. Second, tier and competency progress is **tracked automatically** from those outcomes, rather than assembled by hand at renewal time. For an ISV selling software on Google Cloud, the practical center of gravity is still the [Google Cloud Marketplace](/solutions/gcp-marketplace/) motion — but the program around it is now organized differently, so it is worth resetting the mental model rather than mapping old terms onto new ones. * * * ## The tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond **The Google Cloud Partner Network has three tiers, from entry to highest: Select, Premier, and Diamond.** Google moved from a two-tier model to a three-tier one, adding Diamond as a new, deliberately selective top tier. Google describes the tiers this way: Tier What it recognizes, per Google **Select** The entry tier — partners who have demonstrated a baseline of foundational knowledge and successful client engagements. **Premier** Partners with a significant investment in certified technical resources and a consistent history of driving customer outcomes at scale. **Diamond** The highest level — intentionally selective, reserved for partners with the deepest global commitment to Google technology and a portfolio of large-scale, complex customer deployments. Two honest cautions. First, **tier placement is based on customer outcomes across Google Cloud and Google Workspace**, and Google does not publish fixed revenue-or-certification thresholds for each tier on its open pages — so this post names none. Do not build a plan on a number you cannot cite. Second, because tiers reflect ongoing outcomes and are tracked automatically, **a tier is a standing you maintain, not a badge you keep** — plan for the trajectory that holds it, not just the moment you first reach it. * * * ## Competencies — what replaced specializations **A new competency framework replaces the former specializations, and it operates independently from your tier.** Where the old program certified “specializations” and “expertise,” the Partner Network recognizes **competencies** at two levels — **Competency** and the higher **Advanced Competency** — so you can signal not just that you have a capability but how deep it runs. Competencies are organized into three categories: - **Product** — capability with a specific Google product (for example, data, AI, or a named platform product). - **Solution** — capability across a solution area such as AI, application modernization, data and analytics, databases, infrastructure, or security. - **Industry** — capability serving a vertical such as financial services, healthcare and life sciences, retail, or public sector. Google measures a competency along two dimensions: **capacity** — the knowledge, technical certifications, and sales credentials your team holds — and **capability** — real pre-sales and post-sales contributions to validated, closed-won opportunities. The important structural point for planning is that **competencies are separate from tiers**: you earn them by proving expertise in an area, and they do not simply fall out of reaching Premier. Google also runs focused **subprograms** for specialized groups, such as managed-service providers or partners concentrating on a particular product. * * * ## The partner paths — co-selling, services, and technology **The Partner Network customizes a partner’s path around how it works with Google — co-selling, services, or technology — rather than making everyone climb one identical ladder.** This is the current framing, and it replaces the older Partner Advantage engagement-model language (the “Sell / Build / Services” motions). The three current paths map cleanly onto the kinds of partner Google names — ISVs, resell and services integrators, and systems integrators: - **Co-selling** — selling alongside the Google field, including transacting through Google Cloud Marketplace. This is the path most ISVs build a Google revenue plan around. - **Services** — delivering consulting, implementation, or managed services on Google Cloud. - **Technology** — building a product that runs on or integrates with Google Cloud. A software company frequently sits on more than one path at once — **technology** for the product relationship, **co-selling** for the commercial one. The value you care about as an ISV — Marketplace transacting and Google co-sell — sits on the co-selling path, so evaluate your standing there specifically rather than in the abstract. * * * ## Where Marketplace and co-sell actually connect **Selling on Google Cloud Marketplace requires Partner Network membership in good standing — not a specific tier — and it is what makes a deal co-sellable.** To list, Google requires that you [join and maintain good standing in the Google Cloud Partner Network](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/partners/get-started), hold a Marketplace vendor account, and keep a valid payment profile; there is no minimum tier to become a vendor. That is a meaningful correction to a common assumption: you do not need Premier or Diamond to start transacting. What the Marketplace motion unlocks for an ISV is concrete: **private offers** and **Marketplace Channel Private Offers** for reselling through partners, **commitment drawdown** so a qualifying purchase can draw down a buyer’s existing Google Cloud commitment, and the **Marketplace Customer Credit Program**. A Marketplace listing is how your product is sold and metered on Google Cloud — and a transaction the Google field can be credited for is the raw material of the co-sell motion. Co-selling itself is one of the rewarded partner paths, and Google tracks co-sell activity automatically toward tier and competency progress. Google describes co-sell as a rewarded _outcome_ rather than publishing fixed deal thresholds or incentive percentages, so treat it as “activity that compounds into standing,” not a number to hit. That is why the sequencing matters: the listing is the prerequisite the co-sell motion plugs into — a point covered end to end in the [Google Cloud Marketplace ISV seller guide](/resources/blog/google-cloud-marketplace-isv-seller-guide/) — and the [alliances and partnerships](/solutions/alliances-partnerships/) function is what turns access to the Google field into sourced and influenced deals through an operational [co-sell workflow](/platform/cosell/). * * * ## Frequently asked questions **What is the Google Cloud Partner Network?** The Google Cloud Partner Network is Google Cloud’s partner program, announced in December 2025 to replace Google Cloud Partner Advantage. It organizes partners into three tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond — and recognizes expertise through a competency framework. **What are the Google Cloud Partner Network tiers?** From entry to highest, the tiers are Select, Premier, and Diamond. Google moved from a two-tier to a three-tier model, adding Diamond as a selective top tier awarded for consistent, large-scale customer outcomes across Google Cloud and Google Workspace. **What replaced Google Cloud specializations?** A new competency framework replaces the former specializations. Competencies come in two levels — Competency and Advanced Competency — across Product, Solution, and Industry categories, and they operate independently from a partner’s tier. **Do I need a specific tier to sell on Google Cloud Marketplace?** No. To sell on Google Cloud Marketplace you must join and maintain good standing in the Google Cloud Partner Network, hold a Marketplace vendor account, and keep a valid payment profile. Google does not require a specific tier to list. **How does co-sell fit into the Google Cloud Partner Network?** Co-selling is one of the partner paths Google rewards, alongside services and technology. Co-sell activity is tracked automatically and counts toward tier and competency progress. Google describes co-sell as a rewarded outcome rather than publishing fixed thresholds. **What happened to Google Cloud Partner Advantage?** Partner Advantage is the former program name. Google announced the Google Cloud Partner Network in December 2025, rolling out through 2026 with a transition window. The old Member, Partner, and Premier tiers are superseded by Select, Premier, and Diamond. * * * ## Takeaways - Google Cloud’s partner program is now the **Google Cloud Partner Network**, announced December 2025 as the successor to **Partner Advantage** and rolling out through 2026. - It has **three tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond** — placed on **customer outcomes** and tracked automatically. Diamond is a new, selective top tier. - **Competencies replace specializations**, at two levels (Competency and Advanced Competency) across Product, Solution, and Industry categories — and they are **independent of your tier**. - Partners work along **co-selling, services, or technology** paths; an ISV usually sits on co-selling and technology at once. - **No specific tier is required to sell on Google Cloud Marketplace** — you need Partner Network membership in good standing, a vendor account, and a payment profile. Google does not publish per-tier revenue or certification thresholds, so don’t plan against a guessed number. * * * Suger runs the co-sell and Marketplace motion the Partner Network rewards — Google Cloud Marketplace listing and metering, private offers, and co-sell on the records your Google sellers already work. See the [Google Cloud Marketplace seller solution](/solutions/gcp-marketplace/), read the [Google Cloud Marketplace documentation](https://doc.suger.io/gcp-marketplace/), or explore how it operationalizes the [co-sell workflow](/platform/cosell/). ## Sources Primary sources for the platform rules cited above. Last verified August 24, 2026. Cloud providers change fees, eligibility, and program terms without notice — check the source before relying on a figure. - [Google Cloud Partner Network](https://cloud.google.com/partners) — The current program name (Google Cloud Partner Network), the three tiers — Select, Premier, and Diamond — with their descriptions, and the competency framework: the Competency and Advanced Competency levels across Product, Solution, and Industry categories. - [Introducing Google Cloud Partner Network](https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/partners/introducing-google-cloud-partner-network) — The December 2025 announcement: the move from a two-tier to a three-tier model, that Diamond is the new selective top tier, that a competency framework replaces specializations, that tiers reflect customer outcomes and are tracked automatically, and the first-quarter 2026 rollout with a transition window for partners. - [Become a Google Cloud partner](https://partners.cloud.google.com/) — That partner paths are customized around co-selling, services, or technology, and that co-sell is a rewarded activity tracked toward tier and competency progress. - [Requirements for Google Cloud Marketplace](https://docs.cloud.google.com/marketplace/docs/partners/get-started) — That selling on Google Cloud Marketplace requires joining and maintaining good standing in the Google Cloud Partner Network, plus a Marketplace vendor account and a payment profile — with no specific tier required to list. - [Why sell on Google Cloud Marketplace](https://cloud.google.com/marketplace/sell) — That enrolling in the Google Cloud Partner Network is the first step to becoming a Marketplace vendor, and the seller mechanics available including private offers and Marketplace Channel Private Offers. ### Stay Updated Get the latest Cloud GTM insights, product updates, and marketplace strategies delivered to your inbox.