Google wants to tread on the toes of Microsoft 365
. The Mountain View firm intends to give a boost to professionals, VSEs and SMEs by adding a new offer to Workspace.
In the coming weeks, the American giant will deploy a free offer of its collaborative online service bringing together the group’s various productivity tools.
A free version of Google Workspace
A few days ago, Google announced the end of the free version of G Suite, which became Workspace in 2020 following a reorganization of the company’s productivity tools. A stoppage of services that had been hanging in the face of historical Google Apps users for a long time, but which happened in a somewhat incongruous way. We understand better why now. In a few weeks, Google will launch a free offer of its Workspace Essentials office suite.
This free will nevertheless be at the expense of one of the flagship applications. With Google Workspace Essentials Starter Edition, the American giant offers professionals free access to Meet , Chat, Docs, Sheets , Slides in addition to a 15 GB online storage space on Google Drive . On the other hand, they will have to give up on Gmail, the email client being excluded from this new offer, intended to compete with the Microsoft 365 suite.
Expected availability in a few weeks
This free offer of Workspace is primarily intended for professionals in small and medium-sized businesses who do not have such productivity tools. To take advantage of it, users will simply need to log in using their work email address, after which they can invite their colleagues to join them for work. However, it will not be necessary to enter bank details, especially since it is not a trial version and the service is therefore not limited in time.
Obviously, Google reminds that access to all of its service’s applications and documents is encrypted and secure in order to best protect users and the company’s confidential information. No launch date has been announced at this time. On the dedicated page, the American firm nevertheless specifies that Google Workspace Essentials Starter should arrive in the coming weeks. Interested professionals can already register on the Workspace page to be notified of the availability of this free offer.
Whether or not you are teleworking, online collaborative tools have completely transformed the way we work. It has never been easier to share a file, organize a meeting or manage a project from your computer. Your colleagues and clients are now just a click away.
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Source: google
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