Google Workspace, previously G-Suite and initially launched as Google Apps in 2006, is Google’s offering of cloud computing applications focused on workspace communication, collaboration, and productivity.
Chances are, you’ve used at least one Google Workspace application in recent years, be it the popular email client Gmail or Google Docs as an alternative to Microsoft Word. However, there are also other popular tools and solutions included under the Google Workspace umbrella, including Google Forms (a powerful online survey tool), Google Meet (video call/conferencing solution), and more.
Google offers the majority of these solutions totally free, but there are also paid premium editions like Google Workspace Business and Google Workspace Enterprise that offer more capabilities and functionalities than the free version. Also, paid Google Workspace editions will provide you with not only extra productivity features and capabilities but also improved data security, among other benefits.
The question is, if you are a business actively using Google Workspace applications, is it worth it to make an upgrade to the paid versions?
Below are the top reasons why you should make the upgrade to paid Google Workspace editions to help you make a better decision for your business.
Table of Contents
Top 7 Reasons to Upgrade Your Google Workspace
1. Improved data security and searchability
With paid Google Workspace plans, you’ll gain access to Google Vault, which is not available as a free app. Google Vault is a data retention and eDiscovery solution designed for Google Workspace, offering a secure and intuitive way to store your company’s important data permanently. Vault also offers useful eDiscovery tools, so you can easily find the data you’re looking for any time you need it.
Google Vault also allows you to easily track your employees’ activities when using different Google Workspace apps (i.e. Gmail or Google Docs.) For example, you can monitor content views and even search activities.
2. You need more cloud storage space
It’s no secret that data is increasingly becoming the center of attention in many businesses. Across many different industries, data is increasingly becoming the most valuable asset; and the more data your business receives, processes, and transmits, the more storage space you’ll need.
Google Drive is Google’s cloud storage offering in Google Workspace, with a free version that offers ‘only’ 15 GB of storage space. Considering Google Drive’s space is shared across other Workspace applications like Gmail, Photos, Docs, and others, 15 GB is actually much more limited than you think.
With paid Google Workspace editions, on the other hand, you can get more storage space according to your needs, up to unlimited storage.
Besides the larger Google Drive storage, you’ll also get more data management and authentication features with Google Workspace paid plans.
3. Using branded email addresses
Google Workspace Business and Enterprise editions allow you to use branded email (with your business’s domain name) through the intuitive and familiar Gmail client.
Meaning your employees can get all the reliability and familiarity of using the Gmail client when accessing their branded company emails, so they’ll get a consistent user experience, at any time.
You’ll also get extra access to features to control and secure the branded email addresses. You can, for example, easily add or remove email addresses as needed to facilitate employee onboarding and revoke access control from quitting employees. You can also assign up to 30 alias accounts for each user depending on your needs.
4. Easily build a professional website
With Google Workspace Business or Enterprise, you also gain access to Google Sites, Google’s intuitive website builder you can use to easily build and launch a well-designed and functional website for your business.
Google Sites is designed for team collaboration, so your team can easily work together on the interface, co-edit the website, add their feedback, and so on, even for those without any coding skills or experience. You can easily drag and drop content from other Google Workspace apps and use built-in templates.
5. Integration with your existing solutions
While the free version of Google Workspace does offer pretty decent integrations with popular third-party solutions, Google Workspace Business offers better integrations both in terms of quantity and quality.
With Google Workspace Business, you can integrate Google applications with numerous third-party solutions and even custom applications. Google Workspace Business offers seamless integration with popular CRM solutions (i.e., SalesForce) and native integrations with 4,000+ third-party solutions offered in Google Workspace Marketplace.
6. Better data security and cybersecurity measures
With Google Workspace Business or Enterprise editions, you also gain access to enterprise-grade security with Google’s Endpoint Management.
Endpoint Management offers advanced security features for both your desktop and mobile devices. You can easily control which endpoints (i.e., desktop PCs and mobile devices) can access your critical data and get detailed information about these devices. When needed, you can also revoke access and remotely sign out users.
If, for example, a device with access to company data is lost or stolen, you can use Endpoint Management to remotely wipe the device or the account stored within the device.
7. Centralized control via Admin Console
With paid Google Workspace editions, businesses also gain access to the Admin Console feature, a one-stop, centralized dashboard for data, user, and applications management.
With Admin Console, businesses can easily perform custom tasks and configurations like adding or removing devices, implementing access controls/authentications, and customizing the whole user experience of Google Workspace applications as they see fit.
If you use the service of a Google Workspace enterprise IT consultant, you can have your entire ecosystem planned and custom-tailor the Google Workspace experience, allowing you to make the most of your Google Workspace investment.
Wrapping Up
While the free version of various Google Workspace apps is pretty decent for day-to-day individual and business use, paid Google Workspace editions offer so many more benefits that can help your company in streamlining its workflow and improving your productivity.
Above, we have discussed 7 key reasons why you should make the upgrade to Google Workspace Business or Enterprise editions, and hopefully you can use this article to make a better-informed decision for your investment.