What is Google Workspace
Google introduced its Google workspace or G suite to us on October 6th, 2020. So, what is Google workspace? It is a new friend that unites effective workers from any industry after they have been split apart by social distance.
Our pickle was tickled when we learned about Google’s productivity update.
After all, we adore productivity and Gmail! To explain to you just what the upgrade means for your company, we have dissected it like an onion.
For those who work in organisations, Google Workspace or Google Suite provides a collection of communication and collaboration tools.
The essential Google Workspace communication tools, such Gmail and Google Meet, as well as the tools for teamwork, like Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms, are extensively utilized throughout the world.
It has always been possible for numerous users to update a document, spreadsheet, or presentation at once thanks to collaborative software.
What is Google Workspace?
Google’s newest set of productivity tools is called Workspace or gsuite. It brings together all of our favourite G Suite applications, including Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Docs, Slides, Meet, Keep, Forms, Sites, Currents, and Sheets, even more compactly under one attractive, colorful roof.
We may look at the history of G Suite to truly comprehend what has changed. It is a revision. G Suite has been redesigned, repackaged, and optimized for your productivity requirements.
So, is it only a branding or a bold exploration of untested productivity measures?
In any case, Google has pledged to deliver a deeply integrated user experience, a completely new identity, and sector-specific solutions. and we’re going to solve the problem.
Why have Google introduced Workspace?
As we know, world has changed. Our professional lives have altered the most, though. We are unable to troubleshoot around the water cooler, brainstorm informally with coworkers, or even pretend to eat the cupcakes that Trevor from Accounting’s daughter baked. We are also unable to report to work. Work is not going to work anymore. Work is just that—work.
In response, Google examined their current tool to see how they could develop a digital workspace for their consumers.
When teams aren’t together, Google Workspace or Google g suite helps to foster successful collaboration and build relationships between them.
Vice President and General Manager of Google Workspace Javier Soltero puts it eloquently.
What’s new with Google Workspace?
- A new deeply integrated user experience
- An “ambitious” new brand identity
- A new way to Start depending on industry
A new deeply integrated user experience
- Link preview integration
- Meet gets an upgrade
- Communication tools have been brought together
- Smarter mentions and shoutouts
- Collaborate on Docs right out of chat
Link preview integration
Time and tabs are saved simply. Users can now sample a link by holding their mouse over it rather than opening a new tab to visit one in a document, spreadsheet, or slideshow.
Meet gets an upgrade
Actually, there were two renovations. As you collaborate on a document, spreadsheet, or slideshow with a colleague, you can see their face picture-in-picture in Meet, which now supports a wider range of devices.
Communication tools have been brought together
To facilitate team collaboration and improve consumer experiences, Google has combined all of its communication technologies (Chat, Gmail, Voice, Content Management, and Video Calling).
Smarter mentions and shoutouts
A smart contact chip now offers contact information for people inside and outside of an organization when a user mentions someone in a document.
This gives interactions context akin to a CRM and makes recommendations for what to do next with the contact.
Collaborate on Docs right out of chat
This is a cool one. Users of a workspace can collaboratively create a document with visitors in a chatroom on the go. Everyone can produce and modify a Doc in real-time synchrony, regardless of whether they are at odds with coworkers or other people.
An “ambitious” new brand identity
It is the one for which we have all been waiting for. Google has redesigned some of their icons such as Docs, calendar, Meet, Drive and Gmail, to reflect as a way in which products work together.
A new way to start depending on industry
Every company is unique. In order to reflect this transformation, Google’s new Workspace platform has launched new subscription options that simultaneously serve small, medium, and big organisations.
But at varying costs. Gmail, Drive, Meet, Calendar, Chat, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Keep, Sites, Forms, and Currents are all included in any plan. Their support and storage capacities are different.
So, in this way, Google made a 3 step promise for what Google workplace in return for a Monthly subscription fee.
Its collaboration tools, which can be used throughout apps and amongst coworkers, are what really set it apart from G Suite. By opening and running even fewer tasks, Workspace enables you to accomplish more with your colleagues.
All new Security Features of Google Workspace
- The Investigation Tool’s thorough chat tracking.
- Meet has intelligent detection features that stop unauthorized, potentially aggressive users from interfering with meetings.
- Automatic classification of chat rooms that are spam.
- For Gmail, brand-new data protection insights.
- A newly created rules page in the Google Workplace admin panel that centralizes the development, discovery, and management of Google rules.
Increased productivity results from better productivity tools. Your work and data will be moving in and out of Google’s servers while you use Workspace.
Now that we can only image how large and packed with data Google’s servers are, security and privacy are essential.
In order to secure your data and privacy when using Google’s Workspace, some additional security measures are also on the way.
It’s not surprising that the Google behemoth can claim to have cutting-edge, top-tier cloud security. You can be confident that all of your Google data is safe since they have the necessary technology, resources, and knowledge.
What apps are part of Google Workspace?
- Sites: Collaborative websites (site new)
- Gmail: World’s most widely used email service
- Slides: Collaborative presentations (slide new)
- Calendar: Scheduling solution (cal.new)
- Keep: Collaborative notes (note new or keep.new)
- Drive: Private cloud storage which also allows shared drives and files
- Meet/Meet hardware: Group video and audio conferencing (meet.new)
- Chat/Spaces: Team conversations and project places
- Sheets: Collaborative spreadsheets (sheet.new)
- Forms: Customizable forms and surveys (forms.new)
- Docs: Collaborative documents (doc.new)
The fundamental offering for the majority of Google Workspace editions includes the following apps. Click the link name to visit the appropriate Google Workspace page for additional information about each app.
The speed of Workspace apps is a significant factor. When used in the URL box of a contemporary browser, Google’s.new shortcuts create a new item of the specified type.
For instance, doc.new produces a new Google Doc whereas cal.new creates a new Google Calendar event.
Depending on the Google Workspace edition you select, the following options are frequently accessible but are not clearly shown as essential Workspace apps. These may call for extra purchases.
- Domains: Domain registration with integrated Google workplace sign up and configuration
- Vault: Data retention and eDiscovery
- Cloud search: Search across your Google workspace
- Groups and Groups for Business: Email lists and access management
- Jamboard/Jamboard hardware: Collaborative visual board (jam.new)
- Voice/Voice hardware: Virtual phone system
- Apps Script: Business process automation
- AppSheet: No code application development
- Classroom: Structured learning spaces for teachers and students
What editions of Google Workspace are available?
- Google Workspace Individual
- Google Workspace Business Editions (from 1 to 300 accounts)
- Google Workspace Enterprise Editions (from 1 to any number of accounts)
- Google Workspace Essentials Edition (for organizations with existing email and calendaring solutions)
- Google Workspace Frontline Edition
- Google Workspace Education Editions (for qualified educational institutions only)
- Google Workspace Nonprofit Editions (for qualified nonprofit organizations only)
The number of accounts, customer organization type, and capabilities are used by Google to distinguish between the Workspace editions.
First off, businesses who require up to 300 user accounts can only use the Business editions. Businesses who require more than 300 accounts should speak with Google to learn more about the Enterprise versions. Consider Google Workplace Individual if you only need workspace for one user, or go with any Business or Enterprise edition.
Additionally, many editions are restricted to certain categories of organisations, such as charitable and educational institutions.
Third, storage restrictions As you progress from Starter to Standard to Plus editions, meet restrictions (participant counts and the recording option), administration capabilities (security configuration and reports), and access to certain apps tend to expand.
The cost depends on your company and the Google Workplace edition. For instance, educational institutions and charitable organisations may be eligible to utilize particular Workspace editions without charge, while these organisations may also decide to upgrade to commercial versions for better features and controls.
Google Workspace Individual
Google unveiled a new Individual version in mid-June 2021 that offers email marketing and booking services in addition to access to the essential Workspace apps.
When only one person needs to use Workspace apps and does not need to add or manage any additional accounts, Google Workplace Individual version makes sense.
For a person’s side business or a lone entrepreneur, for instance, the Individual edition would be appropriate. Individual subscriptions will have a monthly cost of $9.99, with a $7.99 initial pricing.
Google Workspace Business editions (from 1 to 300 accounts)
The majority of smaller businesses will select one of these three options:
- Start-up Cost: $6 per active account per month
- Business Standard: $12 per month for each active account
- Business Plus: $18 per month for each active account
Storage (Starter 30 GB per user, Standard 2 TB per user pooled, Plus 5 TB per user pooled), the maximum number of video meeting participants (Starter 100 Meet participants, Standard 150 Meet participants, Plus 250 Meet participants), and the ability to record meetings—which is not available for Starter accounts but is available to Standard and Plus accounts—are the main differences between the plans.
Google Workspace Enterprise editions (from 1 to any number of accounts)
An Enterprise edition is required by businesses that require more than 300 accounts since it gives you access to more sophisticated security and management tools.
Access to limitless storage is an addition in the Enterprise Plus edition. There is no minimum user account requirement for Enterprise Standard or Enterprise Plus accounts, therefore smaller firms that desire access to these services can join up for one of these editions.
However, firms with larger employee and device populations often find these functions to be most helpful. You must speak with Google’s sales team because there is no public pricing for these editions.
Google Workspace Essentials edition (for organizations with existing email and calendaring solutions)
You can install Google Workplace Essentials while keeping your current email and calendaring programme, such as Microsoft 365.
This enables employees in your company to collaborate using legacy technologies in addition to Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, Meet, Sites, and Keep. A company’s Essentials Starter subscription is free to use for up to 25 individuals.
Google Workspace Frontline edition
The Frontline edition includes access to essential Workspace apps like Gmail, Calendar, Chat, Meet, Docs, Sheets, and Slides as well as endpoint management features to secure data on mobile devices.
It was created to facilitate communication between frontline workers and other employees. However, each account is only permitted 2 GB of storage.
Google does not provide Frontline edition pricing online; instead, prospective consumers must get in touch with sales.
Google Workspace Education editions (for qualified educational institutions only)
Institutions that meet the requirements, such as K–12 schools and colleges and universities, are eligible to apply for free access to Google Workplace for Education Fundamentals.
This offers access to Google Classroom, in addition to giving students, instructors, administrators, and staff access to Workspace collaboration apps.
A systematic method for teachers to share lessons with students, for students to complete and submit work, and for teachers to assess and provide feedback on that work is provided via the Google Classroom app.
The available Education versions consist of:
- Google Workspace for Education Basics is free for universities who qualify.
- Standard for Google Workspace for Education: $3 per student annually
- Upgrade for Teaching and Learning: $4 for each license, per month
- Google Workspace for Education Plus costs $5 annually for each student (formerly G Suite Enterprise for Education)
Google Workspace Nonprofit editions (for qualified nonprofit organizations only)
Google Workspace for Nonprofits, which is essentially the Google Workplace Starter Edition, is available to organisations who apply and are approved without charge.
However, Google also offers a large discount on upgrades to other editions for charity companies. Plans and costs for accredited nonprofit organisations consist of:
- Free for eligible organisations is Google Workspace for Nonprofits.
- Business Standard: $3 monthly per account
- Business Plus: $5.04 monthly per account
- Business editions: reduced by roughly 70% compared to list prices.
What is the simplest way to set up Google Workspace?
Visit Google Domains to buy the domain name of your choice for a new business. The system gives you the ability to choose and set up Google Workplace accounts for the domain after you have registered it. With this approach, you can skip a number of manual domain name server configuration processes.
Can we use Google Workspace if we historically have used Office files?
Yes. Several capabilities in Google Workspace are available to help organisations with files in Microsoft Office file formats.
Numerous file kinds, including.doc/.docx,.xls/.xlsx, and.ppt/.pptx, can be stored in Google Drive. If you’d like, you can open and edit these files in Google Drive for desktop using Office that is already installed locally.
Word, Excel, and PowerPoint files may all be edited and shared natively in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides, respectively. You can instantly save, open, or edit any Office file attachments you might get using Gmail.
What do I need to access Google Workspace?
- A modern browser
- Google drive for desktop
- Android, iOS and iPadOS apps
- Hardware and Chrome enterprise: Optional
A modern browser (Chrome strongly recommended)
A contemporary web browser can be used to access Google Workspace apps on desktop operating systems like Windows and macOS.
Organizations that use Workspace will typically prefer to adopt the Google Chrome browser as the standard. You can use some Chrome-only features in addition to Workspace apps when you sign in to your Workspace account using the Chrome browser.
For instance, users can set up Gmail, Docs, Sheets, and Slides to sync locally for offline use if an administrator permits it.
Many other current browsers, including Microsoft Edge, Firefox, and Safari, enable users to access the majority of Google Workspace app features online.
Google Drive for desktop
Google Drive for Desktop (formerly Google Drive File Stream), which allows users to access Drive files and folders with a locally installed programme, is available for Windows and macOS operating systems.
Because of this, navigating items on Drive is quite similar to navigating a local file system.
Android, iOS and iPadOS apps
There are a number of Google Workspace apps that can be loaded on devices running Android, iOS, and iPadOS. For instance, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat, Keep, and Currents are all available for download and installation via the iOS App Store or Google Play .
Hardware and Chrome Enterprise
In addition to using Google Workspace, many businesses additionally decide to buy accessories like Chromebooks, Google Meet gear, Jamboard gadgets, or Google Voice phone equipment.
The Workspace account for your company can be used to link all of these devices and the services they provide, allowing a Workspace administrator to customize them.
People can sign in using a Google Workspace account to access all Workspace apps on Chromebooks (and other Chrome OS devices in different configurations, including tablets or 2-in-1s).
The majority of contemporary Chromebooks can run Android, Linux, and Windows apps with the help of third-party software.
A few higher-end devices can run Windows apps natively. An administrator can deploy and completely manage Chrome and Chrome devices using Chrome Enterprise controls.
Reasons to upgrade paid Google Workspace Account
- Branding
- Account management
- Security
Instead of just using a free Gmail account, you should upgrade to a paid Google Workspace account for at least three reasons:
- Branding
Workspace can be set up to use the domain name of your company. By doing this, emails you send will be from your domain rather than a gmail.com address (example: you@exampleorganization.com).
- Account management
You can establish or delete user accounts as employees join or depart your company since Workspace enables central account management.
- Security
An administrator can increase security settings to, among other things, demand longer passwords, enable two-factor authentication, and restrict external sharing to lessen the likelihood of unintended data leaks.
What third-party apps work with Google Workspace?
Your first port of call should always be The Google Workspace Marketplace, a collection of independent software vendors that Google keeps up to date.
Numerous productivity tools like Lucid Chart Diagrams, MindMeister, and Trello are included, as well as signing tools like DocuSign and HelloSign, storage tools like Box and Dropbox, and backup services like Backupify and Spanning Backup.
In addition, Workspace offers Single Sign-On and Security Assertion Markup Language connections to third-party apps.
This enables users within your company to log into their Workspace accounts and then obtain access to associated third-party web apps without the need for further authentication.
In some circumstances, the system can be set up such that whenever a new Google Workspace account is established, a new account at a third-party provider is immediately added.
The many vendors who provide this kind of integration are listed in the Pre-integrated SAML apps catalogue.
What is the difference between Google and Google Workspace?
Google Workspace and Gmail are distinct from one another in a few significant ways: Gmail is a free service, while Google Workplace has paid options that cost between $6 and $18 per user each month. Users of Gmail are in complete control of both their email and Google Account login information.
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Is Google Workspace a good idea?
For business owners who want to collaborate with team members throughout the world, Google Workspace is a terrific productivity package. The product is simple to use and includes well-known apps. It can scale up as your business expands because it’s simple to add or remove users.
What are the disadvantages of Google Workspace?
- There are no desktop productivity tools.
- Due to the fact that Google is largely an advertising corporation, it may be seen negatively.
- For new users, Gmail labels might be challenging to understand.
Conclusion
Similar comprehensive and enterprise-management friendly collaboration and communication solutions are available with Microsoft 365.
Many firms continue to utilize Microsoft Exchange, Outlook, Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Teams as standard software.
Other, considerably less well-liked Google Workspace substitutes include Zoho Workplace, Nextcloud, and KolabNow.
Alternatives to Docs, Sheets, and Slides include LibreOffice and CryptPad for those who want to work on documents but don’t need organizational email and account management features.
Apple’s iWork programmes should be investigated by users of Apple devices (i.e., Pages, Numbers and Keynote).