Google Workspace

First things first, you might be wondering where Google Workspace fits into Google’s line of web-based services. How exactly does Google Workspace relate to Gmail, Docs, and G Suite? Is it the same or different?

The short answer to that question is Google Workspace is the latest version of G Suite. It’s a platform that includes all of the apps you probably know and love today — Gmail, Google Docs, Google Calendar, and more.

But if you’re curious to learn how Google Workspace came to be, here’s its evolution in a nutshell:

2006: Google first launches “Google Apps for your Domain,” which included Gmail and Google Calendar among other early apps

2016: Google rebrands the platform to G Suite and introduces a more comprehensive line of tools that includes Google Meet, Google Drive, and Hangouts. It’s a big step towards making remote collaboration accessible for distributed teams.

2020:G Suite becomes Google Workspace in order to better align with the needs of the rapidly-changing workspace.

Google Workspace is a collection of cloud-based tools designed to make productivity and collaboration easier for individuals and organizations. It includes the following apps and services:

Gmail — email

Google Sheets — spreadsheets

Google Docs — online word processor

Google Chat — messaging platform

Google Forms — online surveys

Google Currents — virtual bulletin board for teams communication

Google Calendar — virtual calendar

Google Keep — note-taking

Google Drive — cloud storage

Google Sites — website builder

Google Meet — video conferencing software

Google Slides — presentations

One of our favorite things about Google Workspace is that it’s extremely accessible. While it was first introduced to organizations (large and small businesses, nonprofits, and educational institutions), it’s recently become available for personal use. What’s more, users can now access Google Workspace on mobile and desktop. All you need is an internet connection.

With the arrival of Google Workspace, one of Google’s aims was to provide a tailored user experience for all team members — with enhanced security and customer support. The goal was to really bring in all of the necessary tools for productivity and collaboration under one roof, to go from disjointed to unified, thereby streamlining work for their users. Here are three of the major improvements that make Google Workspace a stronger platform than its predecessor, G Suite.

Google Workspace functions as an all-in-one solution for individuals and teams who want to create, collaborate, plan, and execute. And as anyone will tell you, nearly every high-level goal involves many moving parts — a challenge exacerbated by the advent of remote and distributed work.

Google Workspace makes it easier for people to manage their work by centralizing all of their favorite tools, from Google Docs for creating written content to Google Calendar for managing schedules.

Guest access also makes it easier for users to communicate with external partners and clients — a huge plus for building and maintaining strong relations.

Okay, we’ll admit that this improvement doesn’t make the Google Workspace more functional, per say. But we thought we’d include it anyway to demonstrate the thoughtfulness that went into Google’s re-brand. To showcase the value of unity and emphasize collaboration, Google redesigned their logo with four new colors.

Google Workspace is for everyone because of its customized solutions to companies tailored to their needs. Each business is different and has different requirements, so with Google Workspace they can customize their dashboard to reflect their unique preferences and work styles. However, larger corporations usually turn to comparable services, like Microsoft Teams.

Google Workspace is more than just a set of tools. Google is smart to identify that data security is a crucial factor, since people use it for professional collaboration.

Google Workspace is trustworthy, thanks to its intelligent security features.

Here's what it does to keep your conversations and data safe:

Google Chat has an investigation tool that ensures only the team members can log in.

Google Meet has unique and automatic detection tools that find out unknown and potentially fraud entrants in meetings. This helps in keeping the discussion safe and avoids leakage of vital information.

It also has automatic identification of spammy classrooms.

Gmail includes protection insights to help you identify and avoid spam - it blocks 99.9% of attacks.

They have also offered 2 step verification to keep the login process tightly controlled.

The admin is allowed to create team rules. There is a rule page in the Google Workspace console that displays Google’s rules for creation, discovery, and management.

Google Workspace is a cloud-based SaaS product. Translation: You don't have to purchase, download, and install the software. All you need are your login credentials and a Workspace-supported browser. At the time of this article, Google Workspace works best on Google Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Microsoft Edge.