Going by the volume of noise and discussion they inspire, one would imagine that Google’s productivity applications like Docs and Calendar, until now making up the G Suite family, are dominant players globally. Yet, the suite is able to claim less than one in six users of office software platforms. As mentioned previously in this column, Microsoft Office 365 has become the de facto standard for productivity. According to Gartner, it had something like 87.5% market share in 2019, and Google is only gaining one percentage point a year.
Nevertheless, Google still generates several billion dollars from G Suite subscriptions, despite individual apps like Docs and Sheets being free to use for consumers. Microsoft makes ten times as much from its office suite.
Indian-based upstart Zoho lies in third place, and is growing at a rapid pace, but still represents only a small dot on the global office landscape. Its revenues run to a few hundred million dollars.
Now, Google wants to change the narrative. It announced this week it has rebranded G-Suite as Google Workspace, and is rolling out new look, feel and functionality across the suite. Logos will look like Google logos, with new four-color icons for Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, and Chat. All the applications will be interactive for collaboration and opening one app from within another.
Kelly Waldher, vice president for marketing of Google Workspace, summarised the change on the Google Blog: “Whether at work or at home, people want to do great things. But for many, this means juggling a variety of apps and tools to stay connected—none of them centralized—which can make it hard to keep track of things or make progress on what matters … Google Workspace includes all of the productivity apps you know and use at home, at work, or in the classroom – Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, Meet, Chat and more – now more thoughtfully connected.”
She says the new user experience brings together tools like chat, email, voice and video calling into a single, unified place. It is available to business customers now, and will be available to consumers in the coming month.
Read more on the next page as Google explains the new way of working with Workspace.
Javier Soltero, vice president and general manager of Google Workspace, points out the new understanding that, for many, “work is no longer a physical place we go to”.
“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,” he says. “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.”
The result of this transformation, he says, is that “time is more fragmented—split between work and personal responsibilities—and human connections are more difficult than ever to establish and maintain”.
He suggests that Google Workspace is “everything you need to get anything done, now in one place”, but shares the common misconception of most tech giants: that these are “the productivity apps you know and love”. Few people really love productivity applications – the better it helps them do their jobs, the more they appreciate then. But love? Not so much.
That is reserved for the likes of social sharing and entertainment applications. Here, too, Google would love a bigger slice of the action. Its Meet application was powerfully poised to cash in on the social distancing and remote working revolution, but lost out in a massive way to Zoom.
“Google Workspace is the best way to create, communicate, and collaborate”? Not according to the market. Or, at least, not yet. Soltero would like to make it so with major new selling points.
So, for example, in Docs, Sheets, and Slides, users can now preview a linked file without having to open a new tab, meaning less time spent moving between apps. Borrowing from, of all things, Microsoft Teams, when one “@mentions” someone in a document, “a smart chip will show contact details, including for those outside your organization, provide context and even suggest actions like adding that person to Contacts or reaching out via email, chat or video”.
Perhaps unintentionally ironically, Soltero says this is about “reinforcing human connections”, as it is “what keeps teams together”.
Even if they are playing catch-up in some areas, the updates all make sense. For example, Workspace brings Meet picture-in-picture to Gmail and Chat, so that one can see and hear people one is working with, while collaborating.
Read more on the next page about the features and options for Workspace.
“In the coming months, we’ll be rolling out Meet picture-in-picture to Docs, Sheets, and Slides, too,” says Soltero. “This is especially powerful for customer interactions where you’re pitching a proposal or walking through a document. Where before, you could only see the file you were presenting, now you’ll get all those valuable nonverbal cues that come with actually seeing someone’s face.”
Google Workspace will also be offered to education and nonprofit usrs in the coming months, although education customers will be able to continue using existing tools via G Suite for Education, which includes Classroom, Assignments, Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides, and Meet. G Suite for Nonprofits will also continue to be available to eligible organisations.
Google Workspace will also be tailored for businesses of different sizes.
“Our new editions for smaller businesses are aimed at those often looking to make fast, self-serviced purchases. Our editions for larger enterprises are designed to help organizations that have more complex implementation needs and often require technical assistance over the course of a longer buying and deployment cycle.”
Soltero says that Google Workspace embodies Google’s vision for “a future where work is more flexible, time is more precious, and enabling stronger human connections becomes even more important”. Ultimately, however, it’s a realisation of Google’s vision to become a more serious alternative to Microsoft Office 365.
- Arthur Goldstuck is founder of World Wide Worx and editor-in-chief of Gadget.co.za. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram on @art2gee