Google rebrands its G Suite to Google Workspace; takes on Microsoft Office with new competitive pricing

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, announced Tuesday that it’s rebranding the G Suite group of productivity apps, including Gmail, to Google Workspace. Unlike just the G Suite, the new Google Workspace better reflects the way various applications, such as the Google Meet video-calling service, are available from other applications, such as Google Docs.

Besides, the tech giant also announced new pricing options that it hopes could boost its cloud revenue. In addition to the name and pricing changes, Google is also rebranding the logos of several services to use all four colors in the main Google logo and is introducing a handful of new features.

In a blog post, Javier Soltero, vice president, and general manager of Google Workspace, said:

For more than a decade, we’ve been building products to help people transform the way they work. Now, work itself is transforming in unprecedented ways. For many of us, work is no longer a physical place we go to, and interactions that used to take place in person are being rapidly digitized. Office workers no longer have impromptu discussions at the coffee machine or while walking to meetings together, and instead have turned their homes into workspaces. Frontline workers, from builders on a construction site to delivery specialists keeping critical supply chains moving, are turning to their phones to help get their jobs done. While doctors treating patients and local government agencies engaging with their communities are accelerating how they can use technology to deliver their services.

On its product pages, Google said it rebranded to Google Workspace to more accurately represent the product vision. The tech giant has evolved G Suite into a more integrated experience across our communication and collaboration tools. Similar to G Suite, all Google Workspace plans provide a custom email for your business and include collaboration tools like Gmail, Calendar, Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Forms, Sites, and more.

The changes might help Google to take on its formidable challenger to Microsoft, whose Office 365 applications are more popular for business use. Google Workspace plans start as low as $6 per user per month for Business Starter, $12 per user per month for Business Standard, and $18 per user per month for Business Plus.

According to research firm Gartner, Microsoft remains a dominant player in the email and document authoring software market, with an 87.6% share in 2019. Google had an 11.5% share, up from 10.5% in 2018.The Basic and Business versions of G Suite, which had cost $6 and $12 per user per month, will remain available as Business Starter and Business Standard plans for customers with 300 or fewer seats.

A new Business Plus option with greater security features will cost $18 per user per month. There is also a new Essentials tier for teams and departments, which will be available for $8 per user per month. Large businesses can contact Google’s salespeople, as was the case before.

The new offerings “should translate into much more value to customers, for sure,” said Javier Soltero, vice president, and general manager of Google Workspace.

https://youtu.be/bE31y5HbukA