Making the case: Is Google Workspace Enterprise right for my organization?

If your organization is already using the Business edition of Google Workspace and it’s working just fine, why would you consider upgrading your subscription level? 

Organizations have different needs based on their team size, ways of working, security requirements, data storage, and level of collaboration. Depending on how advanced or complex those requirements are, features available in Google Workspace Business edition may not be sufficient to meet your team’s needs. 

All Enterprise editions support unlimited users, while offering a range of advanced functionality and security features. But with three levels to choose from—Starter, Standard and Plus—and each offering additional advanced features, it can be difficult to determine which is the right edition for your organization.

In this article, we’ll provide a high level overview of the features and editions to help you make an informed decision.  

Advanced security

All versions of Google Workspace Enterprise offer a high level of security, so if you have more than 300 users and have to buy into the Google Workspace Enterprise family but do not need advanced security features then Enterprise Starter may be sufficient. If you are on the Google Workspace Business family or have more than 300 users and are looking for more robust security features, then you’ll want to explore the Standard and Plus versions of Google Workspace.

With Enterprise Standard, you’ll get:

• data loss protection (DLP) 
• access control for users and devices. 

For even more enhanced security features, you may consider Enterprise Plus, where you’ll get: 

• enhanced desktop security for Windows
• client-side encryption
• email attachment malware detection
• email encryption. 

 Enterprise Plus also includes:

• control over data storage location
• a security center that can help to remediate security incidents, using security analytics and best practice recommendations to help protect your organization and
• management of hardware and software, such as Google Chrome, from one admin console. 

Google Enterprise primo features

IT managers in particular will love Enterprise’s primo admin controls—such as the ability to analyze Gmail logs in BigQuery, automate mobile management tasks and automate user provisioning. In Enterprise Standard, Google Vault can be used for eDiscovery, governance and archiving, while Plus also offers Cloud Search for internal search and assistance across third-party repositories.

Across organizations, Enterprise enhances the scale of collaboration. With Standard or Plus, meetings can have up to 500 participants, as opposed to just 150 with a Business Standard account. Enterprise also enables recording and sharing of Google Meet sessions in Drive. Using Connected Sheets, Enterprise users can access, analyze, visualize and share spreadsheet data, ensuring a single source of truth for data analysis. Connected Sheets also works with BigQuery and Looker integrations.

Optimize your environment

The many different subscription levels of Google Workspace can be confusing. Along with Enterprise Starter, Standard and Plus, Google also offers:

• Personal and Business editions
• Frontline edition specifically designed for frontline workers
• Education and nonprofit editions with discounted but limited features
• Add-on services like Voice and AppSheets

If you have a complex user base with widely varying needs, we can help you set up a mixed SKU environment to match the right license with your users needs.  A manufacturing company, for example, might want to use Enterprise Plus for head office employees, but use Frontline for warehouse employees who primarily need access to email. 

If you have questions or want some help and guidance from a Google Workspace expert, reach out to us.  Learn more about working with Pythian, a Premier Google Partner 

Upgrade with a Google partner

So why consider upgrading with a partner and not just with Google? Whether you work directly with Google or with a Google Workspace partner, you have full access to Google’s support team. But when you work with a partner like Pythian, you have an added layer of support.

For example, for priority one tickets, our support desk promises a one-hour maximum response time, 24x7x365. If we can’t fix the issue, we can escalate it with Google faster than customers are able to do on their own.

That’s because we’re a premier Google Cloud Partner, which is the highest distinction an organization can earn with Google. We have numerous accreditations and certifications in Google Workspace and across the Google Cloud stack. As a Google Cloud Partner, we also have access to discounted pricing for our customers, so working with us actually gets you more, for less.

Are you considering an upgrade to Google Workspace Enterprise? Need help assessing whether you have the best licensing mix for your workforce?  Talk to one of our Google Workspace experts today!