G Suite - everything you need to know (Part 1: Introduction)

This blog post was updated on September 25, 2024

It was originally published on January 16, 2019

G Suite has been rebranded as Google Workspace. Check out our new blog to find out what has changed and how it will impact your existing accounts: What Is Google Workspace And How Does It Impact Your G Suite Account?

In today’s digital-first world, businesses are increasingly migrating to cloud-based applications like G Suite (now rebranded as Google Workspace), drawn by the numerous advantages of these SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) platforms. However, as with any technological shift, adopting G Suite comes with its own set of questions and considerations. This post provides a comprehensive overview of G Suite, addressing its features, advantages, and why businesses of all sizes are embracing it.

What is G Suite?

G Suite is a powerful collection of cloud-based tools developed by Google, designed to enhance communication, collaboration, productivity, and storage. The core applications in G Suite include Gmail, Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Calendar, Google Meet (formerly Hangouts), Chat, Keep, and more. Depending on your plan, it also provides tools for administrative control, such as Admin Console, Google Vault (for archiving and eDiscovery), and Mobile Management.

One of G Suite’s standout features is its cloud-based nature, which allows for seamless access across multiple devices and locations. This is one of the key reasons why G Suite is becoming the go-to choice for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs). Here are some specific benefits:

1. Anywhere, Anytime Access: G Suite enables easy access to emails, calendars, and documents from any device, ensuring that employees can stay connected and productive whether in the office, on the road, or working remotely.

2. Centralized Control: Through the Admin Console, businesses can easily manage users, permissions, and services, giving IT administrators better control over the organization’s communication and collaboration tools.

3. Scalability: G Suite grows with your business. Whether you’re a 10-person startup or a 1,000-person enterprise, G Suite’s flexible plans allow you to scale without worrying about infrastructure limitations.

4. Enhanced Security: With features like two-factor authentication, data encryption, and built-in spam filtering, G Suite offers top-tier protection for your data and communications.

5. Integrated Tools: G Suite’s ability to seamlessly integrate with a wide range of third-party tools, add-ons, and extensions enhances workflows and boosts overall efficiency.

What are the advantages of using G Suite?

G Suite offers a centralized, integrated platform for all essential business operations, making it a one-stop solution for email hosting, file collaboration, and more. Here are the standout advantages:

1. Unmatched Uptime and Reliability: Google guarantees a 99.9% service level agreement (SLA), and in practice, it frequently exceeds this, meaning that your email, calendar, and files will almost always be available when you need them. Downtime can lead to lost productivity and revenue, and G Suite’s reliability is a crucial selling point for businesses.

2. Simplified Administration: The Admin Console allows for the management of users, groups, security settings, custom domains, and other critical features from a single dashboard. This simplifies the process of onboarding new employees, managing permissions, and maintaining security protocols across the organization.

3. Built on Google Cloud Platform: G Suite benefits from the robust infrastructure of Google Cloud, which provides market-leading security, data redundancy, and performance. This infrastructure is trusted by large enterprises and small businesses alike, ensuring that your organization’s data is stored and processed securely.

4. Email Encryption: Security is a top priority in today’s business landscape, and G Suite delivers. Emails sent via Gmail are encrypted in transit using TLS (Transport Layer Security), ensuring that sensitive communications are protected from interception.

5. Third-Party App Integration: G Suite offers seamless integration with a vast array of third-party apps. This flexibility allows businesses to enhance their productivity with tools they’re already familiar with, such as CRM platforms, project management tools, and specialized software specific to their industry.

G Suite Plans Comparison

Here is a table comparing the features of the G Suite editions- Basic, Business, and Enterprise:

As you can see, the premium G Suite Business and Enterprise editions offer all of the applications in Basic as well as features offering greater security, compliance, and enterprise controls. These additional features are essential when auditing, reporting, and compliance are integral to your business.

G Suite Overview

Here is a quick overview of the most commonly used G Suite apps:

• Gmail

  Gmail is arguably the most widely used email service today. Ever since Google launched Gmail in April 2004, it has revolutionized the way we use emails. Frankly, all other providers have been playing catch-up ever since. If you are not using Gmail, it is likely that people will judge you ;)

Collaboration became a whole lot easier with Contacts, Calendar, and Hangouts. They seamlessly integrate with Gmail making planning meetings so much easier. Labeling, sorting, and filtering incoming messages was never this simple and the innovation has continued with the introduction of tabbed inbox, priority inbox, tasks, snooze, etc.

• Google Drive

  Google Drive is a cloud-based file storage and sync service. It allows you to store files, synchronize them across devices, share, and most importantly collaborate with others, simultaneously editing the files. Google Drive encompasses Docs, Sheets, and Slides that can be created and edited online without the need for downloading any software. Moreover, it also offers offline features across devices.

  Features that allow you to keep track of changes made to files, comment, assign tasks within the files, as well as restrict access make collaborating a whole lot easier. There is nothing that comes close when talking about cloud collaboration, G Drive is the best!

• Calendar

The best part about Google Calendar is that as part of the Suite of apps, it is integrated with everything else. Therefore, it allows you to keep track of important events, share your schedule, plan meetings, as well as create multiple team calendars.

Whether it is keeping track of your daily to-do list, organizing meetings or events, or tracking important deadlines, Calendar makes it all very easy. More importantly, any event created and updated on your Calendar will sync across your devices as well as other G Suite apps such as Gmail and Tasks, keeping your schedule up-to-date and with you, wherever you are.

• Hangouts Meet

Hangouts Meet is Google’s tool that allows you to hold video meetings with people within as well as outside your organization. Google Hangout stands out since it is part of G Suite and it is deeply integrated with other G Suite apps such as Calendar, Drive and Docs. Therefore, for anyone using Google Calendar, Hangouts makes meeting logistics much less complicated.

Hangouts Meet lets you join meetings via a web link that is automatically generated when you create meetings using Calendar. This link can then be shared directly via the Calendar invite or through email. Offline attendees can join the video conferencing using a dedicated dial-in phone number. Meet supports HD video and allows up to 30 participants.

Why Businesses Should Consider G Suite for Their IT Strategy

By consolidating email, collaboration tools, cloud storage, and administrative functions into one comprehensive platform, G Suite eliminates the need for multiple, often disjointed software solutions. This reduces the complexity of managing IT infrastructure, streamlines workflows, and boosts overall efficiency. Additionally, its security features provide peace of mind in an era where data breaches and cyberattacks are growing concerns.

As more businesses embrace remote and hybrid work models, having a flexible, cloud-based system like G Suite is essential for maintaining business continuity and supporting collaboration across teams, regardless of physical location. This adaptability makes G Suite a valuable long-term investment for businesses aiming to stay agile in an ever-evolving marketplace.

At Jones IT, we have helped hundreds of businesses migrate to G Suite (Google Workspace) and seamlessly adopt the new applications. No matter the size of your company or the extent of your data, we avoid the common pitfalls and problems associated with G Suite migrations, making the transition smooth and efficient. Reach out to us by clicking the button below to schedule a call with our G Suite / Google Workspace experts.

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About The Author

Hari Subedi

Marketing Manager at Jones IT

Hari is an online marketing professional with a focus on content marketing. He writes on topics related to IT, Security, Small Business, and Mindfulness. He is also the founder and managing director of Girivar Kft., a business services company located in Budapest, Hungary.