Google touts new cloud computing clients; analysts sceptical

Fei Fei Li, chief scientist of AI/ML for cloud services at Google Inc., speaks during the company's Cloud Next '17 event in San Francisco, California, U.S., on Wednesday, March 8, 2017. The Cloud Next conference brings together industry experts to discuss the future of cloud computing. Photographer: David Paul Morris/Bloomberg

Alphabet Inc's Google is making progress in taking on cloud computing leaders Amazon.com Inc and Microsoft Corp, executives said on March 8, as the search engine company stakes more of its future on the cloud as a new source of growth. 

At a conference in San Francisco, Google cloud computing chief Diane Greene ticked off a host of new clients, including HSBC, Colgate, Verizon and eBay.