The update will help admins manage cloud storage more effectively.
If you’re an admin at a large organization, then you know the pain of managing cloud storage: someone has uploaded an entire TV show, someone never deletes anything, and so on. Thankfully, Google is trying to make the task a bit less of a headache for Google Workspace customers.
In a blog post, Google has laid out a set of pretty sweeping changes to how much control admins can enjoy over cloud storage.
In the Admin Console, admins can view a usage summary for the entire organization; product-specific usage, such as for Docs or Gmail; the top users of storage in the organization; and storage taken up by shared files. On top of this, admins can now manage and delete shared drives based on storage usage (with some pretty granular controls), apply limits for specific users, and access detailed reports on storage usage. Basically, it’s music to the ears of anyone that manages a big network of employees.
Admins will also be getting more control over who can access different types of storage and why, something currently only super admins can do. The changes add some much-needed features for organizations using Google Workspace, especially as Google plans on competing with Microsoft and other enterprise software makers.
Storage is one of the silent annoyances for anyone running an enterprise tech stack: you only get so much, and employees loving using it. Google’s Workspace plans offer up to 5TB of storage for £13.80 per user per month, which is a pretty generous limit, but over the years these things can get filled up, especially when working on huge files.
Google has been working hard to make Workspace and Google Cloud the go-to destination for large enterprise, with some success. By introducing improved admin tools, Google is making Workspace more attractive to exactly the right group of employees.