G Suite

History

Products

G Suite comprises Gmail, Hangouts, Calendar, and Google+ for communication; Drive for storage; Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, and Sites for collaboration; and an Admin panel and Vault for managing users and the services.

The Basic 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 plan adds Vault for eDiscovery and enables many additional custom features, including advanced admin controls for Drive, unlimited storage (or 1TB per user if less than 5 users) on Drive, audit and reporting insights for Drive content and sharing, custom message retention policies, and more.

Gmail

Gmail is a web-based email service, launched in a limited beta release in April 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 G Suite, Gmail comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

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 and Apple macOS computers, and Android and iOS smartphones and tablets.

As part of G Suite, Google Drive comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

Google Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Forms

Google Docs, Sheets and Slides are a word processor, a spreadsheet and a presentation program, respectively. The three services originate from company acquisitions in 2006, and are today integrated into Google Drive. 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. 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, 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 G Suite, Google Docs and Slides come with additional features designed for business use, including:

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 G Suite, Google Calendar comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

Google Hangouts

When Google Apps for Your Domain was launched in 2006, Google Talk was used for communication. This was later replaced in May 2013 by Google Hangouts, a messaging service that incorporates technology from different communication services Google had developed.

Hangouts supports text, voice and video conversations (video up to 25 participants), and is cross-platform on the web, Android and iOS.

In July 2014, Google announced that Hangouts would be covered under the same 99.9% uptime guarauntee that Gmail and Google Drive have, as well as 24/7 phone and email support.

As part of G Suite, Google Hangouts comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

In February 2017, Google quietly launched "Meet", a video conferencing app for up to 30 participants, described as an enterprise-friendly version of Hangouts. It launched a website and an iOS app. However, the app was pulled shortly after release, Meet's dedicated section of Google's blog was removed, and the website was only "somewhat up-and-running", lacking functionality to start a call or a text chat.

Google+

Google+, Google's social networking service, was launched in invitation-only basis in June 2011, before becoming officially available in October.

It is used to let 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 G Suite, Google+ comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

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 G Suite in February 2017, and as part of G Suite, Google Keep comes with additional features designed for business use, including:

Google Vault

Google Vault, an archiving and electronic discovery service exclusively available to G Suite 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, 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, the first hardware product designed for G Suite. 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.

G Suite Marketplace

The G Suite Marketplace (formerly Google Apps 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 enables a "unified search experience" in G Suite. 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 rollout 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.

Pricing

When prospective customers sign up for G Suite, they get a free 14-day trial for up to 10 users.

G Suite Basic costs $5 per user per month, and G Suite Business costs $10 per user per month.

G Suite for Education, however, is free.

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, 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 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 certification, adherence to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles, and can support industry-specific requirements like Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

Customers

As of January 2017, Google has 3 million businesses paying for G Suite, while it has 70 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, AllSaints, BuzzFeed, Design Within Reach, and PwC.

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".

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 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 Docs, 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's Eric Grevstad wrote that "what's online is what you get", adding that "configuring them to [work offline] 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 [G Suite] to 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'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' Google search result rankings. Particularly public-facing Pages and +1 buttons were pushed as effective marketing strategies.

However, writing for The New York Times, Quentin Hardy said that "the sour grapes version is that Google Plus isn’t getting anything like the buzz or traffic of Facebook, 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, 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 Apps suite is Microsoft Office 365, Microsoft'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 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 25 GB in Skydrive. Google Apps provides 30 GB of space which is spread among Gmail, Drive and Picasa". 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 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".

As of March 2016, 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".