A Beginner’s guide to G Suite
G Suite or Google Suite, like many products from Google, is a game-changer in the way businesses are managed online. While I’m sure you’ve heard of and used at least one of the free versions of the products in the Suite, very few businesses out there know the full potential of GSuite.
Going Google:
The Suite has gaining ground with its long-time rival in the field - Microsoft. Just this year, companies such as Colgate, HSBC,E-bay and Verizon (which in March started to move 15,000 of its employees from the Microsoft platform to G Suite).
In this blog, I’ll help you with :
● What comprises of G Suite
● How G Suite can help your business
● The difference between the free and paid versions of the Suite
● New updates to G Suite
● How to access G Suite
What comprises G Suite?
Several applications that you know and love with access and features you wouldn't receive in the free version you’ve used:
For connection:
● Gmail - the best online email application on the web
● Calendar - online scheduling for yourself and your teams
● Google+ - a fun social network for businesses
● Hangouts Meet - video conference,chat and calls with colleagues around the world enabling global networking from remote locations
For creation:
● Docs - edit documents online with your team in real-time
● Sheets - edit spreadsheets online with your team in real-time
● Forms - create forms online with free access to useful plugins to enhance your surveys
● Slides - create presentations online
● Sites - collaborate with your team to easily build a new website
● Keep - never lose track of those new business ideas and sketches
For access and storage:
● Drive - get secure, online storage and file-sharing in the cloud
● Google Cloud Search - search through all your business’s content in the cloud with this powerful search tool
For control:
● Admin - easily configure settings for G Suite users across your entire business
● Vault - an archive for all your company emails and chats
● Mobile - manage company data on your mobile devices
How does G Suite help your business?
G Suite helps you collaborate with colleagues in the medium you prefer:
● In real-time
● Regardless of global location
● storing and sharing content that is always secure (super security with multi-factor authentication and robust encryption) and accessible (unfailing accessibility with a 99.99% uptime guarantee)
What is the difference between the free and paid versions of G Suite?
The paid versions offer a ton of features that are necessary for a professional business such as :
● Use of the apps on your own domain name
● Eg- your company email address@yourowndomainname
● 2 times the additional storage for apps like Gmail and Drive
● Interoperability with MS Outlook
● Additional security features
● Complete control - administrative access over all your accounts
● 24/7 support from Google
● Custom branding- the paid version allows you to use your own company logo in place of the G Suite one
● CRM integration- use a G Suite-compatible CRM such as ProsperWorks to get the most out of this essential tool
New updates :
1. Google Calendar Interop for Microsoft Exchange:
Based on a popular request from customers, Google has added improvements to allow users in companies that use both Google Calendar and Microsoft Exchange to view a colleague's schedule.
2. The bonus point for Android Wear users :
Android Wear (while quite efficient for business users to easily see updates right on their watch) has been quite a concern for business managers in terms of data security. Google has now given access to G Suite managers to grant more security to their company data accessible on Android Wear devices.
3. Whitelisting of third-party apps with G Suite:
G Suite managers can now allow and control which third-party apps employees wish to use along with other tools in the Suite.
How do you access G Suite?
Personally, I have used G Suite for quite some time now and it's amazing. There’s a feeling of synchronisation and connectivity with the over all product and all its applications. It brings a touch of professionalism to your company emails and lets you collaborate with colleagues and teammates seamlessly. I purchased my G Suite which was set up primarily to cater to web professionals, offers the Suite along with several other web service products that you can manage from one single panel.
