Google has announced today that G Suite is no more. The search giant is rebranding its suite of cloud computing, productivity, and collaboration tools under the new name of Google Workspace.
In a post on the Google Cloud blog, Javier Soltero, VP and GM, Google Workspace, explains how work has transformed due in large part to the pandemic keeping us all separated and, “time is more fragmented—split between work and personal responsibilities—and human connections are more difficult than ever to establish and maintain.” Google’s response to this is a rethink of G Suite, with a focus on a more deeply integrated user experience and a new name.
Google is pushing Workspace as offering “everything you need to get anything done” in one place. It brings together Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat, Keep, Sites, Forms, and Currents for business users, while placing a focus on making collaboration within a team as easy as possible, even if that includes people outside of an organization.
A side effect of this new approach, alongside the new name and new icons to get used to, is a new user interface. Paying customers should already have access to the new, integrated experience, but consumers are set to get it as well “in the coming months.”
Business users also have more options when signing up, which Google describes as “new ways to get started.” There’s now four options: Business Starter, Business Standard, Business Plus, and Enterprise, with Business Starter being the cheapest at $6 per user per month and offering 100 participant video meetings, and 30GB of cloud storage per user. Business Standard ($12/user/month) increases that to 150 participants and recording options as well as 2TB of cloud storage per user. Business Plus ($18/user/month) goes further, with 250 participants, recordings, and attendee tracking as well as 5TB of cloud storage per user. There’s also advanced security and management controls offered.
Google points out in its promotional video that Workspace runs on the “cleanest cloud in the industry.” Hopefully that creates a little bit of a feel-good factor as you struggle with the fact the Gmail icon isn’t simply red and white anymore.