Google Workspace
(formerly known as Google Apps and later G Suite) is a collection of
cloud computing
Cloud computing is the on-demand availability of computer system resources, especially data storage ( cloud storage) and computing power, without direct active management by the user. Large clouds often have functions distributed over mul ...
,
productivity
Productivity is the efficiency of production of goods or services expressed by some measure. Measurements of productivity are often expressed as a ratio of an aggregate output to a single input or an aggregate input used in a production proces ...
and
collaboration
Collaboration (from Latin ''com-'' "with" + ''laborare'' "to labor", "to work") is the process of two or more people, entities or organizations working together to complete a task or achieve a goal. Collaboration is similar to cooperation. Most ...
tools,
software
Software is a set of computer programs and associated documentation and data. This is in contrast to hardware, from which the system is built and which actually performs the work.
At the lowest programming level, executable code consists ...
and products developed and marketed by
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
. It consists of
Gmail,
Contacts
Contact lenses, or simply contacts, are thin lenses placed directly on the surface of the eyes. Contact lenses are ocular prosthetic devices used by over 150 million people worldwide, and they can be worn to correct vision or for cosmetic ...
,
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
,
Meet
Meet may refer to:
People with the name
* Janek Meet (born 1974), Estonian footballer
* Meet Mukhi (born 2005), Indian child actor
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Meet'' (TV series), an early Australian television series which aired on ABC du ...
and
Chat
Chat or chats may refer to:
Communication
* Conversation, particularly casual
* Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time
* Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat
* SMS chat, a form of text messagin ...
for communication;
Currents for employee engagement;
Drive
Drive or The Drive may refer to:
Motoring
* Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle
* Road trip, a journey on roads
Roadways
Roadways called "drives" may include:
* Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive"
...
for storage; and the
Google Docs Editors suite for content creation. An Admin Panel is provided for managing users and services.
Depending on edition Google Workspace may also include the digital
interactive whiteboard Jamboard
Jamboard is a digital interactive whiteboard developed by Google to work with Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite. It was officially announced on 25 October 2016. It has a 55" 4K touchscreen display and can be used for online collaborati ...
and an option to purchase such add-ons as the telephony service
Voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal tract, including talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, shouting, humming or yelling. The human voice frequency is specifically a part of human sound production in ...
. The education edition adds a learning platform
Google Classroom
Google Classroom is a free blended learning platform developed by Google for educational institutions that aims to simplify creating, distributing, and grading assignments. The primary purpose of Google Classroom is to streamline the process o ...
and today has the name Workspace for Education.
While most of these services are individually available at no cost to consumers who use their free Google (Gmail) accounts, Google Workspace adds enterprise features such as custom email addresses at a
domain
Domain may refer to:
Mathematics
*Domain of a function, the set of input values for which the (total) function is defined
**Domain of definition of a partial function
**Natural domain of a partial function
**Domain of holomorphy of a function
* Do ...
(e.g. @yourcompany.com), an option for unlimited Drive storage, additional administrative tools and advanced settings, as well as 24/7 phone and email support.
Being based in Google's data centers, data and information are saved directly and then synchronized to other data centers for backup purposes. Unlike the free, consumer-facing services, Google Workspace users do not see
advertisements while using the services, and information and data in Google Workspace accounts do not get used for advertisement purposes. Furthermore, Google Workspace administrators can fine-tune security and
privacy settings.
The suite was first launched in February 2006 as Gmail for Your Domain, before being expanded into Google Apps for Your Domain in the same year,
later rebranded as G Suite in 2016, then rebranded again in 2020 as Google Workspace.
As of April 2020, G Suite had 6 million paying businesses, and 120 million G Suite for Education users.
History
![Google Workspace Logo](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5f/Google_Workspace_Logo.svg)
From February 10, 2006, Google started testing a version of the service at
San Jose City College, hosting Gmail accounts with SJCC domain addresses and admin tools for account management. On August 28, 2006, Google launched Google Apps for Your Domain, a set of apps for organizations. Available for free as a
beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...
service, it included Gmail,
Google Talk
Google Talk was an Instant messaging, instant messaging service that provided both text and voice communication. The instant messaging service was variously referred to colloquially as Gchat, Gtalk, or Gmessage among its users.
Google Talk was ...
,
Google Calendar, and the
Google Page Creator
Google Page Creator was a website creation and hosting service by Google. It was a tool for basic website design, requiring no HTML or CSS knowledge.
In September 2008, Google announced that it would not accept new sign-ups to Page Creator, in ...
, which was later replaced with
Google Sites. Dave Girouard, then Google's vice president and general manager for enterprise, outlined its benefits for business customers: "Organizations can let Google be the experts in delivering high quality email, messaging, and other web-based services while they focus on the needs of their users and their day-to-day business".
Google announced an edition for schools, then known as Google Apps for Education, on October 10, 2006.
On February 22, 2007, Google introduced Google Apps Premier Edition, which differed from the free version by offering more storage (10 GB per user),
APIs for business integration, 99.9% uptime for Gmail, and 24/7 phone support. It cost $50 per user account per year. According to Google, early adopters of Google Apps Premier Edition included
Procter & Gamble
The Procter & Gamble Company (P&G) is an American multinational consumer goods corporation headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio, founded in 1837 by William Procter and James Gamble. It specializes in a wide range of personal health/consumer hea ...
, San Francisco Bay Pediatrics, and
Salesforce.com. Additionally, all editions of Google Apps were then able to use
Google Documents
Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites and Google Keep. Google D ...
and
Spreadsheets
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in ce ...
, users could access Gmail on
BlackBerry
The blackberry is an edible fruit produced by many species in the genus ''Rubus'' in the family Rosaceae, hybrids among these species within the subgenus ''Rubus'', and hybrids between the subgenera ''Rubus'' and ''Idaeobatus''. The taxonomy of ...
mobile devices, and administrators gained more application control. Further enhancements came, on June 25, 2007, when Google added a number of features to Google Apps, including mail migration from external
IMAP servers, shared address books, a visual overhaul of Google Docs and Google Sheets, and increased Gmail attachment size. A
ZDNet
ZDNET is a business technology news website owned and operated by Red Ventures.
The brand was founded on April 1, 1991, as a general interest technology portal from Ziff Davis and evolved into an enterprise IT-focused online publication.
Hist ...
article noted that Google Apps now offered a tool for switching from the popular
Exchange Server and
Lotus Notes, positioning Google as an alternative to
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
and
IBM. On October 3, 2007, a month after acquiring
Postini
Postini was an e-mail, Web security, and archiving service owned by Google since 2007. It provided cloud computing services for filtering e-mail spam and malware (before it was delivered to a client's mail server), offered optional e-mail archiv ...
, Google announced that the startup's email security and compliance options had been added to Google Apps Premier Edition. Customers now had the ability to better configure their
spam
Spam may refer to:
* Spam (food), a canned pork meat product
* Spamming, unsolicited or undesired electronic messages
** Email spam, unsolicited, undesired, or illegal email messages
** Messaging spam, spam targeting users of instant messaging ( ...
and
virus
A virus is a submicroscopic infectious agent that replicates only inside the living cells of an organism. Viruses infect all life forms, from animals and plants to microorganisms, including bacteria and archaea.
Since Dmitri Ivanovsky's 1 ...
filtering, implement retention policies, restore deleted messages, and give administrators access to all emails.
Google introduced
Google Sites on February 28, 2008. Google Sites provided a simple new Google Apps tool for creating
intranets
An intranet is a computer network for sharing information, easier communication, collaboration tools, operational systems, and other computing services within an organization, usually to the exclusion of access by outsiders. The term is used in c ...
and team websites.
On June 9, 2009, Google launched Google Apps Sync for
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...
, a plugin that allows customers to synchronize their email, calendar, and contacts data between Outlook and Google Apps. Less than a month later, on July 7, 2009, Google announced that the services included in Google Apps—Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Docs, and Google Talk—were out of beta.
Google opened the
Google Apps Marketplace, on March 9, 2010, which is an online store for third-party business applications that integrate with Google Apps, to make it easier for users and software to do business in the cloud. Participating vendors included
Intuit,
Appirio, and
Atlassian.
On July 26, 2010, Google introduced an edition for governments, then-known as Google Apps for Government, which was designed to meet the public sector's unique policy and security needs. It was also announced that Google Apps had become the first suite of cloud applications to receive
Federal Information Security Management Act
The Federal Information Security Management Act of 2002 (FISMA, , ''et seq.'') is a United States federal law enacted in 2002 as Title III of the E-Government Act of 2002 (, ). The act recognized the importance of information security to the eco ...
(FISMA) certification and accreditation.
Nearly five years after the launch of Google Apps, on April 26, 2011, Google announced that organizations with more than 10 users were no longer eligible for the free edition of Google Apps. They would have to sign up for the paid version, now known as Google Apps for Business. A flexible billing plan was also introduced, giving customers the option of paying $5 per user per month with no contractual commitment.
On March 28, 2012, Google launched Google Vault, an optional
electronic discovery
Electronic discovery (also ediscovery or e-discovery) refers to discovery in legal proceedings such as litigation, government investigations, or Freedom of Information Act requests, where the information sought is in electronic format (often refe ...
and archiving service for Google Apps for Business customers.
And then, on April 24, 2012, Google introduced Google Drive, a platform for storing and sharing files. Each Google Apps for Business user was given 5GB of Drive storage, with the option to purchase more. Later that year, Google announced that the free version of Google Apps would no longer be available to new customers.
Google unified the storage between Drive and Gmail, on May 13, 2013, giving Google Apps customers 30GB total that are shared across the apps.
On March 10, 2014, Google launched the Google Apps Referral Program, which offers participating individuals a $15 referral bonus for each new Google Apps user they refer. Google, on June 25, 2014, announced Drive for Work, a new Google Apps offering featuring unlimited file storage, advanced audit reporting, and new security controls for $10 per user per month.
Google Enterprise, the company's business product division, was officially renamed Google for Work on September 2, 2014.
Eric Schmidt
Eric Emerson Schmidt (born April 27, 1955) is an American businessman and software engineer known for being the CEO of Google from 2001 to 2011, executive chairman of Google from 2011 to 2015, executive chairman of Alphabet Inc. from 2015 to 20 ...
, then Google's executive chairman said, "we never set out to create a traditional 'enterprise' business—we wanted to create a new way of doing work (...) so the time has come for our name to catch up with our ambition".
Google announced that Google Apps would be rebranded as G Suite on September 29, 2016. Then, on October 25, 2016, Google launched the first hardware product for G Suite, the
Jamboard
Jamboard is a digital interactive whiteboard developed by Google to work with Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite. It was officially announced on 25 October 2016. It has a 55" 4K touchscreen display and can be used for online collaborati ...
; a 55-inch digital whiteboard connected to the cloud.
Google announced that G Suite would be rebranded as Google Workspace on October 6, 2020,
and that Workspace would emphasize increased integration between the apps, such as the ability to create Docs from within Chats, or start a Meet call from within a presentation. As part of the rebranding, the iconic logos for Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Calendar, Google Meet, and other products in Google Workspace were changed. These new logos corresponded to the similar changes which happened in
Google Maps
Google Maps is a web mapping platform and consumer application offered by Google. It offers satellite imagery, aerial photography, street maps, 360° interactive panoramic views of streets ( Street View), real-time traffic conditions, and rou ...
and
Google Photos
Google Photos is a photo sharing and storage service developed by Google. It was announced in May 2015 and spun off from Google+, the company's former social network.
As of June 1, 2021, in its free tier, any newly uploaded photo and video c ...
. The logo redesigns were met with mixed reactions by end users.
On June 14, 2021, Google announced that Google Workspace would be available to consumers with a
Google Account
A Google Account is a user account that is required for access, authentication and authorization to certain online Google services. It is also often used as single sign on for third party services.
Usage
A Google Account is required for Gmail, ...
, along with the ability for users to fully switch from
Google Hangouts to
Google Chat, the rebranding of the "Rooms" feature in Gmail to "Spaces", a new "Google Workspace Individual" tier, a
progressive web app
A progressive web application (PWA), commonly known as a progressive web app, is a type of application software delivered through the web, built using common web technologies including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and WebAssembly. It is intended to work ...
for Workspace applications, and more.
On January 19, 2022, Google announced any "G Suite legacy free edition" accounts must be upgraded to a paid tier by May 1, 2022 or the account will be automatically upgraded. If a user does not manually upgrade to a paid tier and if no payment information is entered in the account admin page, the account will be suspended starting July 1, 2022. The free tier of accounts were available for users to sign up for from 2007 until 2012 at which point they were changed to a legacy status. This will not affect access to other Google Services, including YouTube, Google Photos, and Google Play, nor paid content, including YouTube and Play Store purchases.
On 17 May 2022 Google announced they would offer "G Suite legacy free edition" accounts the option to self-identify they are using these accounts for non-business use. This would then give them the chance to keep using this service for "Free". They did say that business features might be removed at a later date, without giving indication what those features might be.
Products
Google Workspace comprises
Gmail,
Chat
Chat or chats may refer to:
Communication
* Conversation, particularly casual
* Online chat, text message communication over the Internet in real-time
* Synchronous conferencing, a formal term for online chat
* SMS chat, a form of text messagin ...
,
Meet
Meet may refer to:
People with the name
* Janek Meet (born 1974), Estonian footballer
* Meet Mukhi (born 2005), Indian child actor
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Meet'' (TV series), an early Australian television series which aired on ABC du ...
,
Calendar
A calendar is a system of organizing days. This is done by giving names to periods of time, typically days, weeks, months and years. A date is the designation of a single and specific day within such a system. A calendar is also a physi ...
;
Drive
Drive or The Drive may refer to:
Motoring
* Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle
* Road trip, a journey on roads
Roadways
Roadways called "drives" may include:
* Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive"
...
for storage;
Docs Docs may refer to:
* Department of Community Services
* Display Operator Console System, DOCS (software) package
* Docs.com
* Colloquial term for Dr. Martens footwear.
* Google Docs
See also
* DOC (disambiguation)
* Dock (disambiguation)
A dock ...
,
Sheets
A bed sheet is a rectangular piece of cloth used either singly or in a pair as bedding, which is larger in length and width than a mattress, and which is placed immediately above a mattress or bed, but below blankets and other bedding (such a ...
,
Slides,
Forms, and
Sites for collaboration; and an Admin panel and Vault for managing users and the services.
The Starter plan includes email addresses with custom
domains (@yourcompany.com), video and voice calls, calendars, 30GB storage, collaborative documents, spreadsheets, presentations and sites, controls for security and privacy, and 24/7 phone and email support. The Business Plus plan enables many additional custom features, including advanced admin controls for Drive, 5TB storage on Drive, audit and reporting insights for Drive content and sharing, custom message retention policies, and more.
Enterprise-level customers receive S/MIME encryption, noise cancellation in Meet, and as much storage as they need.
Gmail
Gmail is a web-based email service, launched in a limited
beta
Beta (, ; uppercase , lowercase , or cursive ; grc, βῆτα, bē̂ta or ell, βήτα, víta) is the second letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals, it has a value of 2. In Modern Greek, it represents the voiced labiod ...
release on April 1, 2004. With over 1 billion active consumer users worldwide in February 2016, it has become popular for giving users large amounts of storage space, and for having
threaded conversations and robust search capabilities.
As part of Google Workspace, Gmail comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
* Email addresses with the customer's domain name (@yourcompany.com)
* 99.9% guaranteed uptime with zero scheduled downtime for maintenance
* 30GB of storage space
* 24/7 phone and email support
* Synchronization compatibility with
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Outlook is a personal information manager software system from Microsoft, available as a part of the Microsoft Office and Microsoft 365 software suites. Though primarily an email client, Outlook also includes such functions as Calen ...
and other email providers
* Support for add-ons that integrate third-party apps purchased from the Google Workspace Marketplace with Gmail
Google Drive
Google Drive is a file storage and synchronization service, launched on April 24, 2012. The official announcement described Drive as "a place where you can create, share, collaborate, and keep all of your stuff".
With Google Drive, users can upload any type of file to the cloud, share them with others, and access them from any computer, tablet, or smartphone. Users can sync files between their device and the cloud with apps for
Microsoft Windows
Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...
and
Apple
An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...
macOS
macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...
computers, and
Android
Android may refer to:
Science and technology
* Android (robot), a humanoid robot or synthetic organism designed to imitate a human
* Android (operating system), Google's mobile operating system
** Bugdroid, a Google mascot sometimes referred to ...
and
iOS
iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...
smartphones and tablets.
As part of Google Workspace, Google Drive comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
* Either 30GB, 2TB, 5TB per user, or unlimited storage, depending on the plan
* Advanced admin controls, depending on the plan
* Audit and reporting insights for Drive content and sharing, depending on the plan
Google Docs, Sheets and Slides
Google Docs, Google Sheets and Google Slides are a
word processor
A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.
Word processor (electronic device), Early word processors were stand-alone devices ded ...
, a
spreadsheet
A spreadsheet is a computer application for computation, organization, analysis and storage of data in tabular form. Spreadsheets were developed as computerized analogs of paper accounting worksheets. The program operates on data entered in cel ...
and a
presentation program respectively. The three programs originate from company acquisitions in 2006, and are today integrated into Google Drive as part of the Google Docs suite. They all serve as collaborative software that allow users to view and edit documents, spreadsheets and presentations together in real-time through a web browser or mobile device. Changes are saved automatically, with a revision history keeping track of changes. There is also the capability to set user permission levels to designate who can view, comment or edit the document as well as permissions to download the specific document. Google Forms, meanwhile, is a tool that allows collecting information from users via a personalized survey or quiz. The information is then collected and automatically connected to a spreadsheet. The spreadsheet is populated with the survey and quiz responses.
In June 2014, Google introduced Office support in Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides without the need for file conversion. Writing for ''
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
'', Frederic Lardinois wrote that "Google is clearly positioning its apps as a more affordable solutions for companies that need to occasionally edit Office files".
As part of Google Workspace, Google Docs and Slides come with additional features designed for business use, including unlimited revision history. Google Workspace also has garnered a strong following in education, with over 70 million users by 2017.
Google Forms
Google Forms is a survey application.
Forms features all of the collaboration and sharing features found in Docs, Sheets, and Slides. It can also be used to create
quizzes, including some specialized functions that are of use in educational settings.
Google Sites
Google Sites is a creation tool that allows multiple people to create and edit websites, without requiring
coding knowledge or other web design skills. It was introduced in February 2008 in an effort to help customers "quickly gather a variety of information in one place – including videos, calendars, presentations, attachments, and text – and easily share it for viewing or editing with a small group, their entire organization, or the world."
Google Calendar
Google Calendar is an online calendar intended to help keep track of time and schedules. It was launched in April 2006, and integrates with Gmail for users to easily add events from email messages directly to the calendar.
As part of Google Workspace, Google Calendar comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
* Smart scheduling of meetings, where the service finds available times and appropriate locations based on coworkers' schedules
* Public calendars for consumers to see a business's upcoming events
* Calendar integration with Google Sites
* Easy migration from Exchange, Outlook or iCal, or from .ics and .csv files
* Ability to see what meeting rooms and shared resources are available
Google Tasks
Google Tasks
Google Tasks is a task management application developed by Google and included with Google Workspace.
Included initially as a feature in Gmail and Google Calendar, Google Tasks launched as a core product with a standalone app in 2018. It is avai ...
lets users capture and manage to-dos anywhere in Google Workspace or using iOS and Android apps. It began as a feature of Gmail and Calendar before launching as a standalone app in June 2018. It integrates directly with Google Calendar, and tasks can be created from emails in Gmail.
Google Chat
Google Chat is a
communication software developed by
Google
Google LLC () is an American multinational technology company focusing on search engine technology, online advertising, cloud computing, computer software, quantum computing, e-commerce, artificial intelligence, and consumer electronics. ...
built for teams that provides direct messages and team chat rooms, similar to competitors
Slack and
Microsoft Teams
Microsoft Teams is a proprietary business communication platform developed by Microsoft, as part of the Microsoft 365 family of products. Teams primarily competes with the similar service Slack, offering workspace chat and videoconferencin ...
, along with a group messaging function that allows G Drive content sharing (
Google Docs
Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites and Google Keep. Google Do ...
,
Google Sheets,
Google Slides).
It is one of two
apps that constitute the replacement for
Google Hangouts, the other being
Google Meet
Google Meet (formerly known as Hangouts Meet) is a video-communication service developed by Google. It is one of two apps that constitute the replacement for Google Hangouts, the other being Google Chat. It replaced the consumer-facing Google ...
. Google planned to begin retiring Google Hangouts in October 2019.
Google Hangouts remains a part of Google Workspace, but will be discontinued and replaced by Google Chat and Google Meet by the end of 2020.
Google Meet
Google Meet
Google Meet (formerly known as Hangouts Meet) is a video-communication service developed by Google. It is one of two apps that constitute the replacement for Google Hangouts, the other being Google Chat. It replaced the consumer-facing Google ...
is a standards-based Video Conferencing application, using proprietary protocols for video, audio and data transcoding. Google have partnered with Pexip to provide interoperability between the Google protocol and standards-based SIP/H.323 protocols to enable communications between Hangouts Meet and other Video Conferencing equipment and software.
Google Currents
Google Currents lets team members "engage and communicate" at "a deeper level", with a stream featuring posts, comments and Communities based on common goals. It "makes it easy for anyone to discuss and share ideas, no matter their team, level or location". It features Collections that make it easy to group posts by topic, in order for users to "show what they know and follow what matters most".
As part of Google Workspace, Google Currents comes with additional features designed for business use, including enhanced privacy controls and restricted communities.
Currents is a modified successor of
Google+, which was shut down for consumers and brands on April 2, 2019.
Google Keep
Google Keep is a
note-taking service with a variety of tools for notes, including text, lists, voice, and images.
Google Keep became part of Google Workspace in February 2017, and as part of Google Workspace, Google Keep comes with additional features designed for business use, including:
* Integration with Google Docs to easily access Keep notes while on Docs on the web
Google Vault
Google Vault, an
archiving and
electronic discovery
Electronic discovery (also ediscovery or e-discovery) refers to discovery in legal proceedings such as litigation, government investigations, or Freedom of Information Act requests, where the information sought is in electronic format (often refe ...
service exclusively available to Google Workspace customers, was announced on March 28, 2012.
Vault gives users "an easy-to-use and cost-effective solution for managing information critical to your business and preserving important data", with Google stating that it can "reduce the costs of
litigation
-
A lawsuit is a proceeding by a party or parties against another in the civil court of law. The archaic term "suit in law" is found in only a small number of laws still in effect today. The term "lawsuit" is used in reference to a civil actio ...
, regulatory investigation and compliance actions" by saving and managing Gmail messages and chat logs with the ability to search and manage data based on filters, such as terms, dates, senders, recipients, and labels.
An update in June 2014 let Vault customers search, preview, copy, and export files in Google Drive.
Jamboard
In October 2016, Google announced
Jamboard
Jamboard is a digital interactive whiteboard developed by Google to work with Google Workspace, formerly known as G Suite. It was officially announced on 25 October 2016. It has a 55" 4K touchscreen display and can be used for online collaborati ...
, the first hardware product designed for Google Workspace. Jamboard is a digital
interactive whiteboard that enables collaborative meetings and brainstorming. The Jamboard is connected to the cloud, and enables people in different locations to work together in real-time through multiple Jamboards or connected remotely through a smartphone companion app. The Jamboard recognizes different touch inputs, such as using a stylus to sketch or eraser to start over, and does not require batteries or pairing. The Jamboard is a 55-inch
4K display with a built-in HD camera, speakers and Wi-Fi.
Google Workspace Marketplace
Google Workspace Marketplace (formerly Google Apps Marketplace and then G Suite Marketplace), launched in 2010, is an online store with business-oriented cloud applications that augment G Suite functionality. The Marketplace lets administrators browse for, purchase, and deploy integrated cloud applications. It comprises the Business Tools, Productivity, Education, Communication, and Utilities categories.
In September 2014, Google released a blog post saying that employees would be able to install third-party apps from the Marketplace without involving administrators.
Other functionality
Introduced in February 2017,
Google Cloud Search
Google Cloud Search (formerly known as Google Springboard) is an AI-powered assistant which aid users to quickly find relevant information, as and when they need it across all associated Google apps, including (but not restricted to) Gmail, Googl ...
enables a "unified search experience" in Google Workspace. Cloud Search lets users search for information across the entire G Suite product lineup. Users can also search for contacts, with results including the person's contact details, as well as events and files in common. The Cloud Search mobile app features "assist cards", described by Google as "a new way to help you find the right information at the right time. Using Google's machine intelligence technology, these cards can help you prepare for an upcoming meeting or even suggest files that need your attention". Google states that Cloud Search respects file-sharing permissions, meaning that users will only see results for files they have access to. The initial global roll-out of Cloud Search introduced the functionality for G Suite Business and Enterprise customers, with Google stating that more functionality will be added over time, including support for third-party applications.
Introduced in July 2017, Hire by Google was a job applications and management tool developed by Google to be used in combination with G Suite. The tool lets employers track job candidates' contact information, as well as
résumé
A résumé, sometimes spelled resume (or alternatively resumé), also called a curriculum vitae (CV), is a document created and used by a person to present their background, skills, and accomplishments. Résumés can be used for a variety of re ...
s, calendar invitations, and allows for business partners to share feedback on candidates. Job applicants can choose what information to share with potential employers. The tool is designed for businesses based in the United States with fewer than 1,000 employees, and integrates with Google services, such as
Gmail for sending messages,
Google Calendar for tracking schedules,
Google Sheets for overview of all candidates, and
Google Hangouts for initial conversations. Google introduced Work Insights in September 2018 for administrators to see how departments are using Google products. In August 2019, Google announced that it would be shutting down Hire in September 2020, instead choosing to focus on "other products in the Google Cloud portfolio".
Security and privacy
Google states that "we do not collect, scan or use your G Suite data for advertising purposes and do not display ads in G Suite, Education, or Government core services". Furthermore, it states that "the data that companies, schools and government agencies put into our G Suite services does not belong to Google. Whether it's corporate intellectual property, personal information or a homework assignment, Google does not own that data and Google does not sell that data to third parties".
Data is stored in Google's data centers, which are "built with custom-designed servers, that run our own operating system for security and performance", with "more than 550 full-time security and privacy professionals".
In a blog post, Google stated that benefits of using G Suite included "disaster recovery", with data and information "simultaneously replicated in two data centers at once, so that if one data center fails, we nearly instantly transfer your data over to the other one that's also been reflecting your actions." Though acknowledging that "no backup solution from us or anyone else is absolutely perfect", Google states that it has "invested a lot of effort to help make it second to none".
Encryption
In cryptography, encryption is the process of encoding information. This process converts the original representation of the information, known as plaintext, into an alternative form known as ciphertext. Ideally, only authorized parties can decip ...
, specifically
AES 128-bit or stronger, is applied to data while stored at data centers, under transit between data centers and users, and between data centers.
At its introduction in June 2014, ''
TechCrunch
TechCrunch is an American online newspaper focusing on high tech and startup companies. It was founded in June 2005 by Archimedes Ventures, led by partners Michael Arrington and Keith Teare.
In 2010, AOL acquired the company for approximately ...
'' reported that Google Drive, as part of G Suite, offers "enterprise-grade security and compliance", including
SSAE 16 /
ISAE 3402 Type II, SOC 2-audit,
ISO 27001
ISO is the most common abbreviation for the International Organization for Standardization.
ISO or Iso may also refer to: Business and finance
* Iso (supermarket), a chain of Danish supermarkets incorporated into the SuperBest chain in 2007
* Iso ...
certification, adherence to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, and can support industry-specific requirements like Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). In October 2020, Google announced the new Business Plus pricing tier for Workspace that includes enhanced security features and controls like Vault and Advanced Endpoint Management, but not the full security options available in Enterprise editions of Workspace.
Customers
, Google has 6 million businesses paying for G Suite, while it has 120 million G Suite for Education users.
In September 2014, Amit Singh, then-President of then-named Google for Work, stated that "60 percent of the Fortune 500" companies were paying for the service, with "more than 1,800 customers" signing up each week.
Notable companies using G Suite include
Uber
Uber Technologies, Inc. (Uber), based in San Francisco, provides mobility as a service, ride-hailing (allowing users to book a car and driver to transport them in a way similar to a taxi), food delivery (Uber Eats and Postmates), package ...
,
AllSaints
AllSaints is a British fashion retailer headquartered in London, UK.La Ferla, Ruth,The Romance of Jack the Ripper, ''New York Times'', 8 June 2010.Smith, Adam,", ''Fast Company'', 1 October 2010.[BuzzFeed
BuzzFeed, Inc. is an American Internet media, news and entertainment company with a focus on digital media. Based in New York City, BuzzFeed was founded in 2006 by Jonah Peretti and John S. Johnson III to focus on tracking viral content. Ken ...]
, Design Within Reach, Verizon,
Axis Bank and
PwC
PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international professional services brand of firms, operating as partnerships under the PwC brand. It is the second-largest professional services network in the world and is considered one of the Big Four accounting ...
.
Referral and partner programs
In March 2014, Google announced the Google Apps Referral Program in the United States and Canada. The program lets users receive money, coupons and other incentives by referring customers to G Suite.
In December 2014, Google introduced the Google for Work and Education Partner Program. The program combined existing, individual programs from Apps, Chrome, Cloud Platform, Maps, and Search into one overall program, and "allows partners to better sell, service and innovate across the Google for Work and Education suite of products and platforms".
Geographic availability
Google Workspace is available in most countries and regions. However, Google restricts access to some of its business services in certain countries or regions, such as
Crimea
Crimea, crh, Къырым, Qırım, grc, Κιμμερία / Ταυρική, translit=Kimmería / Taurikḗ ( ) is a peninsula in Ukraine, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, that has been occupied by Russia since 2014. It has a pop ...
,
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
,
North Korea
North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu River, Y ...
, and
Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
. If anyone tries to sign in to these services from these countries or regions, they would get an error message.
Reception
In an August 2011 review, ''
PC World''s Tony Bradley wrote that "the value of a rival platform such as Google Apps hinges on how compatible it is with
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office, or simply Office, is the former name of a family of client software, server software, and services developed by Microsoft. It was first announced by Bill Gates on August 1, 1988, at COMDEX in Las Vegas. Initially a marketin ...
formatting conventions and file types", praising Google for having "gone to great lengths to improve fidelity with Microsoft Office, but it hasn't gone far enough", criticizing "many features" for being reformatted, including "tables of contents, footnotes, or inserted images". Bradley praised Google's collaborative apps, writing that it was "besting what Microsoft offers in
Office 365". Regarding the price, he wrote that "Google's package is the best value. The annual pricing of $50 per user per year makes it about a third less per user per year than Office 365, yet it boasts equivalent functionality sufficient for most small and medium organizations".
Gary Marshall of ''
TechRadar'' commented in 2016 that "Where Office tries to do everything imaginable, Google's suite is much more basic. That said, it's much more powerful than it was when the package debuted in 2006, but the emphasis on simplicity and speed remains." Marshall wrote that "We wouldn't want to craft a massive, complicated manuscript in
Google Docs
Google Docs is an online word processor included as part of the free, web-based Google Docs Editors suite offered by Google, which also includes: Google Sheets, Google Slides, Google Drawings, Google Forms, Google Sites and Google Keep. Google Do ...
, but then that isn't what Docs is designed to do. It's a fast and user-friendly way to create everyday documents and to share them with colleagues and clients", and that fellow service Google Sheets "covers the most common Excel functions
..but doesn't have the power of Microsoft's offering". Marshall praised collaboration for being "effortless", and praised importing of external file formats and making those editable and collaborative for being a "big selling point".
''
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
''s Eric Grevstad wrote that "what's online is what you get", adding that "configuring them to
ork offline
Ork or ORK may refer to:
* Ork (folklore), a mountain demon of Tyrol folklore
* ''Ork'' (video game), a 1991 game for the Amiga and Atari ST systems
* Ork (''Warhammer 40,000''), a fictional species in the ''Warhammer 40,000'' universe
* ''Ork!'' ...
is a rigmarole". He stated that the package was "an illustration of software's version of the 80/20 rule
..80 percent of users will never need more than 20 percent of the features". He stated that "comparing
Suiteto Office 2016 is like bringing a handgun to a cannon fight
..Microsoft's PC-based suite is designed to have almost every feature anyone might ever need; Google's online suite is designed to have most features most people use daily."
''
Tom's Hardware
''Tom's Hardware'' is an online publication owned by Future plc and focused on technology. It was founded in 1996 by Thomas Pabst. It provides articles, news, price comparisons, videos and reviews on computer hardware and high technology. The si ...
s James Gaskin wrote that "like most Google products, it can claim the cleanest and most minimal interface in the market", and "No other suite except Office 365 can get close to the ease of collaboration Google provides. And even Microsoft's product trails by a wide margin as changes only appear in real-time in Word 2016, not the other apps". Conclusively, he wrote: "The progress made between the first Google App release and now has been considerable. As the world moves to more and more mobile computing, Google has a distinct advantage. But tradition dies hard, and those who build more than basic documents, spreadsheets, and presentations will remain tied to their desktops and laptops for the time being."
After
Google+ was launched, many articles were published that emphasized that having a presence on Google+ helped with the business's Google search result rankings. Particularly public-facing
Pages
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...
and
+1 buttons were pushed as effective marketing strategies.
However, writing for ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', Quentin Hardy said that "the sour grapes version is that Google Plus isn’t getting anything like the buzz or traffic of
Facebook
Facebook is an online social media and social networking service owned by American company Meta Platforms. Founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with fellow Harvard College students and roommates Eduardo Saverin, Andrew McCollum, Dustin M ...
, so Google is figuring out other ways to make the service relevant". However, Hardy did note that the integration between Google+ and other, more popular Google services, including
Hangouts
Google Hangouts is a discontinued cross-platform instant messaging service developed by Google. It originally was a feature of Google+, becoming a standalone product in 2013, when Google also began integrating features from Google+ Messenger an ...
, meant "it’s still early on, but it’s easy to see how this could be an efficient way to bring workers to a virtual meeting, collaborate during it and embed in a calendar the future work commitments and follow-up that result".
Competitors
The key competitor to the Google suite is
Microsoft 365,
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American multinational technology corporation producing computer software, consumer electronics, personal computers, and related services headquartered at the Microsoft Redmond campus located in Redmond, Washing ...
's cloud-based offering for businesses that includes similar products. The key differences are in the pricing plans, storage space and number of features.
As noted by ''
TechRepublic
TechRepublic is an online trade publication and social community for IT professionals, providing advice on best practices and tools for the needs of IT decision-makers.
It was founded in 1997 in Louisville, Kentucky, by Tom Cottingham and Kim Sp ...
'' in 2013, pricing plans differ in that "Google Apps has a quick and easy pricing plan for their standard Google Apps for Business package: $5 per user per month or $50 per user per year ... In contrast, Office 365 has a multitude of plans (six as of September, 2013) which can be both good and bad since it provides flexibility but also involves some complexity to figure out the best choice". Storage space varies because "Office 365 gives users 50
GB of space in
Outlook and 1 TB in
OneDrive. Google Apps provides 30 GB of space which is spread among
Gmail,
Drive
Drive or The Drive may refer to:
Motoring
* Driving, the act of controlling a vehicle
* Road trip, a journey on roads
Roadways
Roadways called "drives" may include:
* Driveway, a private road for local access to structures, abbreviated "drive"
...
and
Picasa
Picasa was a cross-platform image organizer and image viewer for organizing and editing digital photos, integrated with a now defunct photo-sharing website, originally created by a company named Lifescape (which at that time was incubated by Ide ...
". And regarding features, it states that "Office 365 has the advantage for plenty of users who have been familiar with Word, Excel and the rest of the gang for years; there is less of a learning curve than with Google Apps if the latter represents a brand new experience ... However, it's also true that Office is notorious for being loaded with complex, unused features which can cause confusion, so the familiarity many will embrace also comes with something of a price, especially if companies are paying for advanced packages not all employees will use. By contrast, Google Apps programs are fairly easy to learn and intuitive, but may feel too awkward for those who are hard-coded to work in Office." Stephen Shankland of ''
CNET
''CNET'' (short for "Computer Network") is an American media website that publishes reviews, news, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos on technology and consumer electronics globally. ''CNET'' originally produced content for radio and televi ...
'' wrote in 2014 that "It's hard to compare Google Apps' success to that of Microsoft Office since Google doesn't release revenue or user figures".
, Microsoft has 60 million commercial customers signed up for its Office 365 product offering, with "50,000 small business customers added to Office 365 each month".
See also
*
Google Cloud Platform
Google Cloud Platform (GCP), offered by Google, is a suite of cloud computing services that runs on the same infrastructure that Google uses internally for its end-user products, such as Google Search, Gmail, Google Drive, and YouTube. Alongside ...
*
Google Drive
*
Comparison of office suites
*
Online office suite An online office suite, online productivity suite or cloud office suite is an office suite offered in the form of a web application. It is accessed online using a web browser. This allows people to work together worldwide and at any time, thereby le ...
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
Meet the father of Google Apps (who used to work at Microsoft)
External links
website (US)Official website (UK)Official Google Apps Partner SearchOfficial Google Drive for Work
Official Google Apps Marketplace
{{Google Cloud
Suite
Suite may refer to:
Arts and entertainment
*Suite (music), a set of musical pieces considered as one composition
** Suite (Bach), a list of suites composed by J. S. Bach
** Suite (Cassadó), a mid-1920s composition by Gaspar Cassadó
** ''Suite' ...
Mobile software
Online office suites
2006 establishments