Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)

The service supports several web applications with similar functionality as traditional office packages, and includes:

• Gmail
• Google Calendar
• Google Hangouts
• Google Docs
• Google Sites

The basic package is free and offers the same amount of email mailbox for one user as a regular Gmail account, up to 50 users can register, including an administrator.

The professional package offers a 25 GB e-mail mailbox for one user and is provided for 50 USD per year for one user account. Provides advanced technical support, an API for integration with existing infrastructure, and a 99.9% email uptime guarantee.

Google Apps Premier Edition Lineup

For 2012, Google Apps is a solution for organizing e-mail, a system of common calendars, working with documents, means of sharing and sharing information, as well as opportunities for organizing mobile access.

Office applications - editing documents, exchanging e-mail messages, as well as instant messages, exchanging information within the company - today are among the most frequent and important transactions performed by company employees. Therefore, it is difficult to overstate the importance of a convenient and functional tool for performing these operations.

Google Apps is a set of services that allow shared storage and editing of office documents, providing convenient and functional corporate mail, as well as short text messaging and voice communication. The six main services provide a full range of end-user capabilities:

Google Gmail

A mailbox can hold huge volumes of emails, substantially minimizing the need to delete email. In addition, it has powerful Google search features, as well as instant messaging, which allows employees to communicate in real time. Google corporate mail is easy to use, which does not affect its functionality. Thanks to the Gmail Labs function, mail can also be used offline.

Google Calendar

Google Calendar provides an easy way to share events and meetings with other users. Google Calendar allows the user to publish calendars with information about corporate events, meetings, an agenda to which anyone or someone who receives such a right from the user can subscribe. With the Google calendar, you can view calendars of employees and colleagues from a single window, which greatly simplifies event planning.

Google Docs

Main article: Google Docs

Google Docs is designed to work with text, spreadsheets and presentations. This service allows you to collaborate on documents with the ability to edit several users. Google Docs allows you to very simply not only create, but also save files on your computer. To start working with a file saved on your computer, you just need to download it to Google Docs. Documents can be saved as HTML files, Word documents, Excel spreadsheets, and even PDF files.

Google Sites

Google Sites is a web application that makes it easy to create a website, with its users can quickly collect a variety of information, including videos, calendars, presentations, text, and easily give access to view or change this information to a group of users, all users of the organization or around the world. Google Sites allows you to embed content from different sources - text documents, spreadsheets and Google Docs presentations, YouTube videos, Picasa slideshow, iGoogle gadgets - on any page and upload attachments as files.

Google Video

Video transmission makes important communications such as internal trainings and corporate meetings more personal, interesting and effective. Employees can safely share videos with individual employees or with other companies. You don't have to email videos, store videos on your computer, or ask IT for a separate video storage solution.

Google Talk

Employees can share videos instantly, viewing and annotating does not require any special software, only the standard Google Talk browser allows you to communicate more efficiently using text chat, video chat and audio chat. With it, you can see the presence of employees and answer emails via chat, which allows you to truly communicate in real time and improve performance. Google Talk lets you call and send instant messages for free.

History

2023: Massive blockages of Google Workspace services for Russian companies under US sanctions

Google On the night of August 10, 2023, the corporation began to massively block Google Workspace corporate services (corporate,, etc.) mail "Google Documents" "Google Drive" for a number of the Russian companies that fell under. the American sanctions Such information Kommersant was shared with representatives of two large companies, the names of which are not disclosed. Sources also did not disclose which companies lost access to Google Workspace.

According to one of the sources, after blocking services, company employees cannot go to corporate mail, use electronic document management through Google Docs, in connection with which companies fear possible financial and reputational losses - almost all important documents and correspondence remained in Google's corporate repository.

According to the estimates of the second interlocutor of Kommersant, as of the beginning of August 2023, about 30% of all corporate information of Russian companies is still stored on the American platform Google Workspace. Many companies are delaying the transition to alternative workspaces, hoping that Google will warn in advance about the lockdown.^[1]

As Softline Kirill Vinokurov, head of the cloud solutions development department (distributor of Google Workspace solutions), explained to the publication, an American company may block accounts for violating the rules for using services.

An error can occur if you send an email to more than 500 recipients at once or send more than 500 emails in a day. But on commercial versions of services, there is still a greater margin for sending/receiving letters, - said Vinokurov.

According to Evgeny Fenyushin, Product Director of MyOffice, Google's possible refusal to serve Russian commercial clients is "another confirmation that not only government agencies, but also businesses have risks of inaccessibility of foreign systems."

Despite geopolitical changes, companies in this segment still continue to use such foreign services. Users are used to working in them, and as a rule, regulatory restrictions on import substitution at the level of small businesses do not apply, he notes.

Large Russian business rarely uses the products of an American developer, as this contradicts the principles of cybersecurity, notes the head of the production block of Nota Yuri Matsygin, "according to the rules, employees must use systems whose servers are located within the country."

2022

France's school use ban

On November 22, 2022, it became known that France had banned the use of free Microsoft and Google office products in schools. Read more here.

Google has added a time booking feature

Google has added "booking pages" to the Calendar, through which users sign up for an appointment. For example, to get to a specialist or meet with a colleague. This became known on March 30, 2022.

You can find out what time the specialist has taken, and when you can schedule an appointment. Those who do not have a Google account can also book time. The feature is available to users of most paid Google Workspace rates and for nonprofits. For Google Workspace Essentials, Business Starter, Frontline - not available^[2].

2021: Workspace update and platform access for all

In mid-June 2021, Google dramatically updated the Workspace office suite and opened access to it for anyone with a Gmail account. To run integrated features, users need to enable Google Chat in Gmail.

The most important innovation is associated with the emergence of the Spaces service, which replaced chat rooms (Rooms) in the Google Chat platform. Within Spaces, users get a separate space where they can organize their contacts, topics and projects in Google Workspace.

The company promised an optimized and flexible interface with Spaces thanks to new features such as a linear theme chain, presence indicators, customizable statuses, expressive responses and an extensible interface. According to the developers, Spaces easily integrates with users' files and tasks, acting as their basis for executing projects.

Other changes include a modified Gmail email service, smart suggestions in emails and documents, editing a document in a chat, the ability to mention other users in the texts of emails and add these users to tasks. 

Most basic features are offered free for Workspace users, but the company also introduced a paid version today called Google Workspace Individual for $10 a month. It is aimed at small business owners, does not require the creation of its own domain and offers "premium capabilities, including smart booking services, professional video conferencing, personalized electronic marketing and much more." First, the Google Workspace Individual subscription will be available to users in the United States, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan and Mexico.^[3]

2020

Launch updated tariffs

Google has launched updated tariff plans for its G Suite business cloud, which changed its name to Google Workspace in October 2020. Now users will have to abandon unlimited cloud storage or pay almost twice the original price for it. This became known on October 15, 2020.

Before the introduction of these tariffs, Google Workspace users could pay $12 per month (G Suite Business tariff, 940 rubles at the Central Bank rate as of October 15, 2020) and use the cloud without any volume restrictions. Technically, this tariff assumed that for each user (with a total of no more than four per account) there was 1 TB in the Google cloud, but the Internet giant had never controlled this before, which made it possible to store tens and hundreds of TB of information in Google Drive for $12 per month.

With the renaming of G Suite to Google Workspace and the transition to current tariffs, storage limits have become a reality. The $12 tariff is called Business Standard, and now it offers only 2 TB per user per month. You can raise the restriction, but only up to 5 TB and only with the transition to a Business Plus tariff worth $18 (1410 rubles) per month.

The trick that allowed G Suite users to upload unlimited files to the cloud will no longer work when changing the tariff. According to Android Police, 5 TB and even 2 TB will be enough for most people, but Google Workspace involves working together in accounts, up to 150 people per profile. In this case, sooner or later the volume of files stored in the cloud will approach the maximum possible.

In this case, Google has something to offer customers - the Enterprise and Enterprise Plus tariffs, in which the storage limits have been lifted. A company spokesman said that users will receive a cloud of the capacity they need, moreover, "without additional investments."

The problem is that when switching from the 12-dollar G Suite tariff immediately to Enterprise in Google Workspace, customers will have to pay almost twice as much. This tariff costs $20 per month (1560 rubles), and Enterprise Plus will have to fork out $30 (2340 rubles) every month. Moreover, in order to switch to these tariffs, you will have to contact Google's sales department, and Enterprise Plus is not available at all in a number of countries.

Representatives also explained why the company decided to ditch unlimited storage in favor of cheaper plans. According to them, only a relatively small number of organizations in several specific industries are really aware of the full benefits of unlimited storage. Шаблон:Quote 'In the new tariffs, we increase the value of features that will be useful to more customers, such as Meet entries in the new Business Standard tariff, while maintaining prices and high storage capacity, they noted.

Leaving G Suite tariffs on others offered by Google Workspace means more than just rising costs or reducing storage. It is worth carefully comparing the previous tariffs with their counterparts in the updated grid, since the options offered by them do not always coincide.

After the transition, Google Workspace customers will receive several additional features, but depending on the tariff, they may lose access to a number of tools used in the work. For example, Google Vault or custom templates for Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms and Sites may not be available. Most of these restrictions can be lifted with Enterprise or Enterprise Plus plans, for which^[4] will have to overpay significantly^[5].

Google renames G Suite office suite to Google Workspace

In early October 2020, Google announced a rebranding for the G Suite of office applications. It became known as Google Workspace and received closer integration with the services of the American company.

Among the innovations - in the chat for the entire group, you can create a new document without having to open a new tab. Also, in the same window, you can preview the document without opening another application or window. After tagging any of the participants, their contact information will now be immediately displayed and actions will be offered, for example, add it to contacts or write by mail, chat or contact through a video call.

This is the end of the "office" as we know it, "said Javier Soltero, vice president and head of Google Workspace, commenting on the changes in the office product. - From now on, teams need to develop without face-to-face meetings and take care of their time to focus on the most important work and establish communication between people in new ways.

The main idea of ​ ​ Google Workspace is to create a single space that combines several collaboration tools to "switch context." In other words, the main tools from the package are always ready for work and are available to users in specific conditions.

The basic and business G Suite subscriptions previously cost $6 and $12 per user per month, respectively: they will remain within the Business Starter and Business Standard plans for customers with up to 300 employees. The new Business Plus subscription, which has improved security features, will cost $18/person. per month. There is also a separate Essentials subscription for teams and departments, which will be available for $8 per user per month. Large companies can still enter into individual agreements with Google.^[6]

2019

Microsoft released a tool for transferring data from Google G Suite to office 365

On April 19, 2019, Microsoft announced the launch of a tool designed to automatically transfer data from Google G Suite to Office 365. Read more here.

Increase subscription costs for G Suite Basic and Business

On January 18 Google , 2019, reported that starting April 2, 2019, the G Suite Basic subscription price will increase US dollars from $5 to $6 per USA user per month, and the G Suite Business tariff will increase from $10 to $12 per user per month. Prices can be calculated in local currency. The price change will be the same globally, but special conditions may apply in some regions. The subscription price for G Suite Enterprise will not change.

Reason for the tariff increase

The G Suite version, which included Gmail and Google Calendar, appeared more than 10 years ago. Since then, Google has added over a dozen applications to the G Suite, including collaboration (Documents, Tables and Presentations), file storage (Disk), video conferencing (Hangouts Meet), secure team messaging (Hangouts Chat) and enterprise data search (Cloud Search). In addition, machine learning technologies have been built into these services, which allow you to respond to emails faster, automatically create diagrams and select materials for files, and prevent phishing.

Now Google is giving users more options, which comes at an additional cost. That is why from April 2, 2019, the G Suite Basic and G Suite Business application packages will cost more.

When the tariffs will take effect

For a flexible G Suite Basic or G Suite Business plan, the changes will take effect April 2, 2019. For the annual plan, the increased prices will take effect when the subscription is renewed on or after April 2, 2019. Prior to this date, the previous tariffs will apply.

You can check the conditions of the current tariff plan and find out how and when prices for the organization will change in the administrator's console on the Payment page.

2018: Remotely lock employees' Android devices and change passwords

On October 1, 2018, it became known about two new security features in G Suite, allowing IT administrators to remotely reset passwords in corporate Android devices, as well as block devices if they are lost or stolen. Google announced the innovations in the G Suite on its blog.

People often forget corporate passwords, especially if the organization has strict security rules that require complex codes to be installed for access. Now, if the forgetful employee does not remember the password, the G Suite administrator can send a command to reset the password and replace it. If the device is lost by distraction or as a result of theft, the administrator will completely block the gadget, and after the device is found, it can be restored.

Thus, the new features will protect data on corporate devices without resorting to their complete erasure, as was provided for in G Suite before.

True, additional features will not be available to all companies using G Suite, but only to subscribers of versions of G Suite Business or Enterprise, who have enabled the advanced mode for managing mobile devices in the Google Admin administrator console.

Google has promised to launch new features in the coming days.^[7]

Attackers steal thousands of mobile devices every year, which jeopardizes the company, since in the modern corporate world, employees use service smartphones not only in the office, but also outside it. In addition, many people do not have separate devices for work, but use their personal devices for official purposes.

In such conditions, it is extremely important for companies to ensure the security of corporate data, given the severity of the consequences of leaks. According to IBM research, the average damage from information leakage is $3.86 million, and in large-scale incidents, losses can reach $350 million.^[8]

2017

Integration with Citrix ShareFile

Google and Citrix announced in July that they are joining forces to provide cloud delivery features for applications and desktops, as well as secure cloud workplaces for those who need to secure the digital work environment while deploying hybrid and public cloud technologies. Customers of the companies were able to use Citrix Cloud to create a secure work environment, including Citrix Workspace Service based on the Google Cloud Platform. In addition, Citrix ShareFile is integrated with Google G Suite, allowing customers to constantly have access to all data while using various Citrix solutions for their work environment. The ShareFile plugin allows you to securely share files via Gmail and ShareFile with Google Drive and provides users with one common storage for all documents. You can read more about this here.

Enhanced Security Settings

On February 2, 2017, Google announced the upgrade of security settings in G Suite products.

Administrators have the ability to prohibit users from registering in the service domain without two-factor authentications using Google Security Key. It is assumed that this will provide customers with increased control over access to confidential information.

The procedure will allow authorization to the account using a physical device with a USB port. The USB key connected to the connector allows you to access your Google account through the Chrome browser, while you need to enter a password. Google Security Key acts as a second form of authentication in addition to the usual username and password^[9].

G Suite has updated important data loss prevention tools. Previously, only Gmail Google Apps subscribers with unlimited storage and archive could use Data Loss Prevention Suite (DLP Suite) support. Now, organizations using Drive cloud storage and sync services can also use the technology to reduce the risks of accidental or malicious data breaches.

DLP Suite allows you to check incoming and outgoing corporate mail messages Gmail for certain content (for example, bank card or social security numbers), set rules for their processing. You can quarantine such messages, cancel them, or make text changes. As part of the expansion of data protection in the cloud, Google introduced enciphering email other service providers on mail services.

Gmail has an integrated analytical engine. BigQuery Its mechanism will allow administrators to more accurately track the activities of employees and set up information panels that are optimal for the enterprise. Pre-configured for interoperability, Gmail and BigQuery will make it easier for organizations to analyze Gmail logs to identify potential performance and security issues. In addition, G Suite subscribers can integrate Gmail with third-party archiving solutions - HP Autonomy or, Veritas which will ensure compliance with generally accepted retention policies.

2016: Google Apps rebranded as G Suite

We created Google Apps so that people can work together and create something new wherever they are, and organizations like yours have evolved faster and achieved more. The new name of this service package - G Suite - better reflects its purpose. In the coming weeks, the old name will be universally replaced with a new one, including in the Help Center, the administrator console and product usage bills. G Suite is still the same universal solution you know, which includes services such as Gmail, Documents, Disk and Calendar.

2015

Google Apps for Work is free. For business

As of early April 2015, the cost of Google Apps for Work in the world starts at $5 per user per month. Cloud applications can be subscribed for either a month or a year. Those who choose an annual plan for Google Apps for Work get a $10 discount. Each Google Apps for Work user provides 30 GB of disk space for mail and documents.

On October 19, 2015, Google in an official press release announced the transition to a free model for providing a suite of office applications Google Apps for Work to corporate customers - commercial enterprises and government agencies can use programs that were previously used only by individuals^[10].

Google Apps for Work vs Microsoft Office 365 (2015)

According to company representatives, Google such a solution can save corporate clients up to 70% of the funds that they previously had to spend on providing employees with cloud office applications.

Only six months after the publication of the offer, it will become available outside the United States.

Business costs for using Google Apps for Work previously amounted to $5 per user per month for the basic version and $10 for an expanded (increased volume of cloud storage, archiving email correspondence).

Taking this step, Google has heated up the cloud office business application sector, where Microsoft is the largest player with its Office 365 Commercial cloud package. Subscription price for its package: from $5 to $12.5 per user per month, depending on the set of functions.

According to an official statement from Microsoft representatives, in the second quarter of 2015, the number of Office 365 Commercial users increased by 74% compared to the subscriber base a year earlier, and the growth rate averaged 50 thousand business subscribers per month throughout the last financial year of the company.

According to cloud security provider Bitglass, in August 2015, the number of Office 365 cloud users exceeded the number of Google Apps users. In large US companies with more than 500 employees, the ratio of Office 365 and Google Apps users is about 34.3% and 21.9%, ^[11].

Access to Google for Work for business will be limited to 3 thousand business users for each company that came to Google - in fact, Google refuses annual income of $180-360 thousand when switching to its software company with 3 thousand employees. Google intends, as an additional incentive, to pay each company that has switched to its office business services up to $75 thousand in compensation.

Google representatives declined to comment on the financial losses that the company will incur as a result of these actions, however, according to the company's statement, as of October 19, 2015, more than 600 companies with at least 10,000 employees use the Google for Work cloud business package.

Business Test: MS Office 365 vs Google Apps for Work

By the beginning of April 2015, many different products were available to corporate users in the cloud office applications for working with e-mail, documents, calendars and file sharing, but the most famous are perhaps Google Apps for Work and Microsoft Office 365. Each of them has its own strengths and weaknesses, having studied which, companies can choose the optimal solution for themselves. Observers of the CIO.com edition tried to find out who is more suitable for Google Apps for Work or Microsoft Office 365 by interviewing business representatives. You can read more about this here.

Google for Work и DLP

On December 10, 2015, Google announced the inclusion of DLP functionality to support Gmail security for some of^[12] business customers^[12].

The corporate component of Google Apps already has a set of functions, information security including enciphering two-factor authentications audit reporting and mobile device management.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) is positioned by the company as an additional layer of protection designed to prevent the leakage of confidential information.

According to representatives of the security and privacy division of Google Apps, DLP is not limited to ensuring the safety of important data (i.e. credit card information) from cyber criminals, but will prevent the user from accidentally clicking "Reply to everyone" in private email.

Gmail DLP will automatically check all outgoing sales emails and take action based on administrator instructions: quarantine email for review, tell users to change information, or block email from being sent, and notify the sender. These actions are likely as one of the scenarios of software operation. Nevertheless, the company said, the checks will affect not only the text of the email, but also the content inside the common types of attached files:

• documents,
• presentations,
• spreadsheets, etc.

Administrators will be able to create their own rules with keywords and regular expressions.

DLP service for Gmail is launched for Google Apps Unlimited clients (premium version of the cloud performance package).

In 2016, Google for Work will add DLP to Google Drive.

2014

Google Apps business users will be able to track devices connected to their account

Apps corporate subscribers Google can look forward to some innovations that will strengthen the security of sensitive data. To this end, Google has introduced a new panel "Devices and Actions," with which you can track which devices used the account, according to the company's official blog. The innovation is located in the "Security" section of the account page. The list shows all the devices from which the user has logged into Google over the past four weeks, including their IP address, the browser through which the login was made, and the time. If the user detects suspicious activity, he will be able to update the security settings on a special page. For example, link a postal address or mobile phone number to an account, disable untrusted applications, or change password^[13]

IT administrators can also use the new Security Wizard as an optional tool to manage Google for Work account security features. According to Eran Feigenbaum, Google for Work's director of security, the wizard can be used to provide contact information for account disaster recovery or to view recent account activity and permissions.

Google announced a new partner program

On December 4, 2014, Google announced significant changes in working with partners distributing Apps for Work software and services. Starting January 1, 2015, instead of the seven previous Google Apps for Work partner programs, which differ in distribution geography and products, one will be used - Google For Work and Education.

2013: The service is used by 5 million companies, thousands in Russia

As of the summer of 2013, more than five million companies use Google cloud services in their corporate infrastructures, about one million of them are located in Europe, Asia Minor and Africa. 290 Fortune Global 500 firms use Google services. In Russia, the number of firms that have become Google's corporate clients is measured in thousands.^[14]

The simplest example is the enterprise email service for the cloud infrastructure provided by Google. At the same time, the company receives all the advantages of a leased cloud service - from flexible configuration and a high degree of security to the ability to save on the purchase of its own mail servers and on their administration. At the same time, the mail system using the Google cloud can interact with other elements of the corporation's IT system.

For example, there are solutions in which users can initiate or curl a task in a business process management system (for example, built on SAP) by sending a letter from a Google cloud-based mail system.

You can also get additional benefits from synergy, because Google provides a whole range of cloud services. For example, the convenience of a mail system built on the Google cloud increases many times if you use it together with the vendor's cloud file storage, etc. As representatives of companies whose corporate systems already use Google Enterprise resources noted during the event, costs can be reduced by increasing the speed of work, saving on traffic and using other points that were not thought about during the implementation of the system.

Similarly, in infrastructure IT solutions, enterprise users can apply other elements available within Google Enterprise, in particular, to work as part of geolocation services, data visualization subsystems, collaboration solutions, information search modules, etc.

To help corporate customers, Google has created a network of certified partners who can help companies implement vendor solutions at all stages, improve IT efficiency, facilitate migration, train staff, provide technical support, etc. One of these partners in Russia is Softline.

2012

Google Apps suite no longer offered for free

[1] In December 2012, the company's official blog published a statement by the head of product management at Google Apps, Clay Bayvor. It reports that business customers using Google Apps are very quickly outgrowing the free version of this server and asking to switch to a paid premium account.

Instead of limited free and paid premium versions, Google Apps will now be distributed by subscription.

"Individuals who want to use Google apps like Gmail or Google Drive can start free personal accounts for themselves," Bayvor said.

The point of reference for the existence of Google Apps is the moment when the Gmail service was launched at San Jose College, and a year after that Google launched a premium version for business customers.

Then the main developer of Google Apps, Derek Parham, wrote that "Google is not going to forget its roots. The standard and educational versions will continue to be distributed free of charge, and we will continue to work on all three versions of Google Apps and look forward to your help in the form of feedback and suggestions. "

If in the case of the version for educational institutions this is still the case, then the free version of Google Apps for individuals no longer exists.

Previously, owners of their own domain names had the ability to bind mailboxes and other services from Google to them, avoiding the need to independently configure web hosting or a mail server. Personal accounts do not have the ability to bind to personal domain names, so private users and very small business clients are now deprived of this privilege.

Already registered users will not be forced to switch to a subscription, but a new free account cannot be created.

The price of Google Apps remains the same: $50 for each user per year.

US FISMA Certification

"We are pleased to announce that Google Apps is the first cloud application package to be certified by the Federal information security Information Security Management Act (FISMA) and has received accreditation from. U.S. governments FISMA affects all information systems used by state U.S. federal agencies, verifying their safety, "the representatives said. Google

Obtaining FISMA certification allows Google to store sensitive but unclassified information, which accounts for about 80% of all data in government agencies. In addition, Google has launched a new system of split servers located in different parts of the United States, specifically for storing government customer data from their accounts on Gmail and Google Calendar. In the near future, it is also planned to add data from other applications to this system.

Google notes that using its app suite, which does not require installation and support efforts, will allow government agencies to reduce spending by redirecting it to other projects. Analysts, however, note that, despite all the company's efforts to increase the security of its applications, many government agencies may still not be ready to use cloud applications, as this means transferring data under the control of a third-party company.

It is for this that Google has made significant efforts to be certified by the US Federal Information Security Program and now claims that its applications can be used by any government agency. According to Eric Schmidt, CEO of Google, the demand for cloud applications in the modern world is growing rapidly, and obtaining certification from the government is another barrier to this type of software that has been overcome.

2011: Price cut to $5 per user per month

In April 2011, Google revised the price of its Google Apps for Business to make them more attractive to small businesses, setting it at $5 per user per month. Google has reduced the minimum headcount of companies that are given access to its paid service from 50 to 10 users. Thus, the corporation strives with the help of Google Apps to earn more money in the highly competitive market of software for organizing collaboration in the cloud.

Of the $29 billion received by Google in 2010, only a small part falls on Google Apps at a paid version price of $50 per user per year. Such a tariff plan remains, but customers who subscribe online can now pay $5 per user per month without signing a contract. This means that companies have the discretion to add or remove users based on their online teamwork needs.

Google expects this flexible payment option to help small businesses where headcount and bank account status are subject to significant fluctuations. Of course, this should help Google compete with the new Microsoft Office 365 package, which is now in beta. Its price is set at $6 per user per month.

2010

Release of Google Apps for Government

In July 2010 Google , he announced the release of a new edition of his Google Apps for Government, designed primarily for use state by authorities. The package includes regular versions of cloud office applications with security enhancements.

Any Google apps can now be connected to Google Apps

Administrators of the cloud-based Google Apps collaboration suite will now be able to give their users managed access to about 60 Google apps, tools and services that are not part of the package's core components. Apps available to connect to Google Apps include Blogger, Picasa, Voice, Maps, Reader, Analytics webmaster tool, AdWords ad service, Checkout payment system and App Engine application development platform.^[15]

Additional applications can be accessed selectively, such as allowing specific applications for specific users or groups. To run additional applications, you do not need to enter credentials separately, but they are not covered by the Google Apps SLA, which guarantees 99.9% uptime. The ability to add applications is implemented in the Apps Standard, Education and Premier editions. These editions themselves are now renamed Apps, Apps for Business and Apps for Education, respectively.

Ability to use Google services with customer domain name

Google Apps are services provided by Google to use its domain name with some Google products. Registering a domain name through a registrar authorized by Google costs 10 USD per year.

The package for educational institutions is free, includes all the functions of the Professional package with the volume of the e-mail box as in the Basic package.

See also

• Office 365 Confrontation - Google Apps

Notes