As a project manager and small business owner, I have a huge appreciation for a G Suite cloud-based application. I need to secure G Suite account data after Employee Leaves the Organization. So, I consider Google Workspace to be one of the most valuable tools that enhance the workflow. Its user-friendly interface helps me and my employees to work with. This enhances the organization's performance through virtual and collaborative work and communications tools in real time. Google Workspace has become an invaluable asset in my daily operations From coordinating with team members and tracking project progress to managing schedules and documentation.
Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) is one of the most popular cloud-based services developed by Google. Businesses and organizations generally use it. It provides your business with a specific gmail account for everyone at your company and a complete suite of office software for your company's daily work.
By using the G Suite, users can store documents in Google Drive and work in real-time with other people. Apart from this, Google Workspace (G Suite) keeps all the documents in one place with security. However, one can easily invite other users to view, download G Suite emails, and collaborate on any file without any requirement for email attachments.
If you want to get complete guidelines on what is Google Workspace (G Suite) and Google Workspace data security, then this article will help you know What G Suite is and its various subscription plans. This will also describe the G Suite products and how one can take Google Apps backup appropriately.
What Apps are Included in G Suite?
- Gmail – email
- Google Calendar – calendar tool
- Google Docs – cloud Word documents
- Google Sheets – cloud spreadsheets
- Google Drive – cloud storage for all your documents
- Google Forms – survey tool
- Google Slides – cloud presentations
- Google Meet – video conferencing tool
The G Suite comprises Google Drive for storing the files. G Suite also contains Gmail, Google+, Hangouts, and Calendars for communication purposes and provides Docs, Sheets, Forms, Slides, and Sites for collaboration. Apart from this, it provides an Admin panel and Vault for managing users and the services of G Suite.
What is the Difference between G Suite and Gmail
| Feature | Gmail | G Suite |
|---|---|---|
| Target Audience | Individuals | Businesses |
| Cost | Free | Paid (monthly fee per user) |
| Email Account | Personal (@gmail.com) | Business (@company.com) |
| Storage | Limited storage on Google Drive | Increased storage on Google Drive |
| User Management | Not applicable (no additional users) | Managed through G Suite Admin |
| Access to Apps | Google Docs, Slides, Sheets | Full suite of office tools |
| Additional Features | - | Custom email domains, advanced admin controls |
| Multi-support | Single user | Multiple users |
| Multi-platform Compatibility | Compatible with various platforms | Designed for seamless integration across platforms |
| Security | Basic security measures | Enhanced security features like data loss prevention, advanced threat protection, and encryption at rest and in transit |
Google Workspace Editions
Google Workspace offers a different variety of editions for their different types of users and organizations. There might be a scenario where you need to upgrade G Suite Editions. But if in case the steps of upgrading are not performed carefully your G Suite Data transfer failed. These editions are designed to provide the right tools and features to meet the specific needs of individuals, businesses, educational institutions, and nonprofits.
Let us discuss the Set of editions provided in the below section:
- Individual Edition-These editions of G Suite are for personal users, freelancers, or business owners. This G Suite edition offers Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and more. These provide professional email addresses with enhanced security and productivity tools without requiring a domain.
- Business Editions-For businesses, it offers Google Apps for business security concerns kind of editions for small or mid-level medium-sized companies.
- For Business Starter- It provides 30 GB storage, and video meetings with up to 100 participants.
- Business Standard-It has 2 TB storage and video meetings with up to 150 participants.
- Business Plus-5 TB storage, advanced security, and video meetings with up to 250 participants.
It has the benefit of flexible pricing plans, collaborations, advanced security, and administrative control.
- Enterprise Editions- These are the editions for large organizations with advanced needs
- Enterprise Essentials- Core Google Workspace services, without Gmail and Calendar, primarily for collaboration and storage needs.
- Enterprise Standard- Full suite of Google Workspace services, advanced security and compliance, unlimited storage.
- Enterprise Plus- The most comprehensive edition with advanced data analysis, security, and management tools.
It has the benefit of unlimited storage, advanced security, and compliance features with powerful admin control and premium support.
- Essentials Edition-The Basics Package is designed for frontline employees, offering crucial communication and teamwork resources such as Gmail, Meet, and Drive.
- Frontline Edition- These editions are similar to the essentials editions. This offers various specialized tools for frontline workers including Gmail, Chat, and Meet with additional management and security features.
- Education Editions- These are specially designated with various tools for educational institutions. This offers enhanced collaborations and productivity tools that are specially designated to support learning and teaching environments.
- Nonprofit Editions- Non-profitable organizations access Google Workspace to make their processes more efficient, improve teamwork, and handle outreach and support activities.
How Does G Suite Cost? Pricing and Plans
For a decade now, the applications in G Suite have increased and developed but have not been accompanied by any adjustments to the pricing of the tools. Initially, Google offered two primary business plans: G Suite Basic Edition for a comparatively smaller amount of $5 per user per month and the G Suite Business Edition at $10 per user per month.
A new development occurred, and that is Google increased the price for the first time in a decade, on 16 January 2019 to be precise. Basic Edition was then hiked to $6 per user per month starting April 2, 2019, and the Business Edition was hiked to $12 per user per month. Stable pricing was maintained for all the services for those who chose G Suite Enterprise Edition.
Nevertheless, the price has slightly increased, and Google Workspace remains an investment worth making for companies. It adapts its pricing strategy to a per-user basis which makes certain the costs are proportional to the size of the business. Also, the G Suite Flexible Plan meets the needs of businesses because it provides an option to pay every month without the need to sign a one-year contract.
Prerequisite to Create A New G Suite Account
- Your Organization's Internet Domain Name- This should be the primary domain where you make a plan to use Google services, such as www.yourdomainname.com (where yourdomainname.com should be unique). You can also use a domain name that you already have or you have to purchase a new domain during the sign-up process.
- A Personal Username to Use with G Suite Services- You have to use a personal username in your domain with Google services, as for example, [email protected]. You can use this username along with a password to sign in your G Suite account and manage the services and products for your organization. You can also use it as your email address and with all your other G Suite services and products.
- An Email Address that’s not in Your G Suite Domain- In case, if you forget the sign in credentials to your G Suite account, then it is needed to be able to reach you at an address that does not require accessing your account. This address must be a valid address. You can use your personal Gmail address where you currently receive mail and will continue doing so while using G Suite.
How to Set Up Google Workspace
- First head to the Google Workspace account homepage and click "Get started"
- Enter the contact details of the person who is managing the Google Workspace account. Then ensure that the email address is accessible as Google will send a confirmation to it.
- Now enter your business domain name and if you don't have a domain name, Google can help you find and purchase one which typically costs $12 per year.
- Enter your business address and additional details and choose the username and password of your Google Workspace account.
- Lastly, review the account details and charges including the monthly fee after the 14-day trial. Then enter your payment method and check the options to automatically renew your domain and keep your domain information private for a simpler domain purchase process.
Google Workspace Reviews- Some Pros and Cons
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Convenience: Google Workspace has so much to bring to the table especially because it brings all your office productivity applications all under one roof. It is convenient to work with the mail, documents, calendar, and chat switch without any loss of time and effort. | Less Advanced than Microsoft Office: Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides are less powerful than the ir desktop Word, Excel, and PowerPoint counterparts; these applications freeze some formatting options and features that may be vital for some users. |
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Ease of Use: The products are easy to use and easy to incorporate into your work process as the primary productivity tool suite.
For example, Docs and Sheets give users a clean and functional work environment that is as basic as Microsoft Word and useful as Microsoft Excel. Other tools for analyzing sales performance as well as other related information, such as the Admin Console, are easy to locate and self-explanatory. |
Requires Internet Access: Since Google Workspace operates in the cloud environment, there is the requirement of having an active internet connection to access most of the services. Some offline capabilities like editing of documents when the device is offline and later updating the changes are supported. |
| Reduced Spam: Gmail provides its spam filter and starting from the 2024 update, even more strict rules for sending out mails would be implemented to eradicate spam mails even from inboxes. | Compatibility with Microsoft: All three services, Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides can import and export Microsoft formats with variations, sometimes the display or conversion can go wrong and since many people use Office tools these issues can be disturbing. |
| Collaboration and Sharing: Google Workspace also shines in the aspect of smooth collaboration. There are no restrictions as to how many members of the team can contribute to the document at once, and transferring files from and to the users is rather straightforward. | Security Concerns: Storing data in a cloud network is more secure than storing it locally or on another site hosted on an organization’s physical premises. However, these threats ought to be addressed in Google Workspace security features like 2-step verification are provided to contain such threats. |
| Cloud-Based: No application software is downloaded since all Google Workspace applications run in web browsers. This cloud-based approach creates and synchronizes the documents to be autosaved and updated simultaneously. | Managing Multiple Accounts: It is inconvenient when several Google accounts are used privately or user wants to merge two google accounts at the workplace for instance, one will have to keep logging in. Regarding the functionalities, it would be rather helpful if Google Workspace could recall the last login used when one application is closed and another is opened. |
| Wide Range of Apps: There is a rich set of productivity and collaboration features in Google Workspace to meet most of the organization’s requirements. | Higher Plan Prices: Of course, the Business Starter plan costs a mere $6 per month per user, but the business-standard plan will cost you $12 per user per month and can be quite costly for huge companies with employees. |
| Ample Cloud Storage: Business and Enterprise plans come with between 30 GB and unlimited storage. Also, files created in Google Drive applications like Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides do not affect the storage space. | |
| Free Version Available: Some of the tools like Gmail, Docs, and Drive are free with limitations of storage space and with the @gmail.com address. com email address. When creating a Google Workspace account, users are offered a two-week FREE trial to create a corporate email address and familiarize themselves with the other features which are in the Admin Console. | |
| Integrations: Google Workspace is compatible with a lot of tools such as CRMs, web development, email marketing, accounting and finance, and academics, thus work can easily be integrated with it. |
Conclusion
This blog discussed What is G Suite and its products. It also provides an overview of the different G Suite subscription plans and guidelines for choosing the right one. G Suite is a cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration service, that is used to store and manage information and documents online. It is also able to secure the information with the help of Google Vault and cloud search.
Australia
Japan
Being a freelance graphic designer, I find G Suite resourceful in my interaction with the clients and other freelancers. Features such as Google Docs, Sheets, Drive help me to share files and work on these files at the same time so that I do not have to worry if everyone is up to date. Another feature I like about G Suite is that it is cloud-based hence I can work from almost any location being a frequent traveler. The security features also make me relish the fact that, my information is safe with the website.
Canada
Running a non-profit organization means every dollar counts, and G Suite provides us with a cost-effective solution for our communication and collaboration needs. The generous storage on Google Drive allows us to keep all our important documents in one place, easily accessible to our team members. The built-in security features help us ensure the confidentiality of our sensitive data, and the administrative controls make managing user access straightforward.
USA
For the marketing professional I have found G Suite is an effective tool for increasing efficiency and better cooperation with the team. Whereas, the use of Google Docs and Sheets for creating and sharing documents where numerous people can enter and edit simultaneously has got rid of conflicts as to which document is the latest version. Google Calendar is used for planning meetings and important dates while working on projects Transparent Communications has relied on Google Meet for seamless conferencing. This integration with other Google tools such as Google Analytics and Google AdWords sharpens our efficiency.