Not all Workspace customers require the complete list of Gemini features for their staff. And for many employees, AI assistants have proven to be most effective during, before, and after meetings. To cater to these customers, Google released “AI Meetings and Messages,” an add-on that includes access to Meet-only Gemini features for the low price of $10 per user per month.
There’s also an “AI Security” add-on, also $10 per user per month, that gives you access to AI-powered document classification in Google Drive. (This feature is also available with the more expensive Gemini Enterprise subscription.)
How does Google Workspace adoption compare to Microsoft 365?
Although Microsoft holds a commanding lead in the market, Google has managed to establish Workspace as a competitive office software suite. It’s hard to say exactly how Workspace adoption is progressing compared to Microsoft 365 and other productivity app suites, but there are some signs.
Google reports 10 million paying customers for Workspace, while Microsoft claims more than 400 million paid commercial seats (end users) for Office 365/Microsoft 365. Google says that number refers to the total number of organizations of all sizes paying for Workspace. This is more than the total number of paid seats/users across customer organizations, but this can include very small (even one person) businesses and is difficult to compare.
Another statistic provided by Google (3 billion users) is less useful, as it primarily concerns consumer usage of free apps. “Billions of consumers use the free version of the Google Workspace app, but enterprise use remains limited and dwarfed by the popularity of Microsoft 365,” Gownder said. .
Google’s parent company Alphabet’s financial statements show that Workspace’s revenue is part of the “Google Cloud” segment, which also includes Google’s broader cloud computing infrastructure and analytics service, Google Cloud Platform. Little has been disclosed about business implementation. During the earnings call for Alphabet’s latest quarterly financial statements (Q2 2024), CEO Sundar Pichai said that Google Cloud’s 29% year-over-year revenue increase was due in part to “the strong performance of Workspace. He only stated that this was due to “growth.” This growth is primarily due to an increase in average revenue per seat, Pichai said. This suggests that Google, like other companies in its sector, sees greater value in increasing sales from existing customers than in expanding its overall customer base.
Nevertheless, Google is slowly establishing itself with M365, Mariano said. “We believe the market for Google Workspace will continue to grow,” he said. “We’re seeing them gain a little bit of market share every year, albeit in a gradual manner.”
Google has been successful in luring large companies such as Verizon and Airbus away from rivals, and recently announced it would give Workspace licenses to 250,000 U.S. military personnel, a sign that the suite is gaining acceptance among large enterprises. This is a further sign of what is happening.
“If you look at the Western world, you see that Microsoft and Google are the two dominant players in this space,” Mariano says.
Mariano said the main factor driving enterprise interest in Workspace is its cost compared to M365. He said companies are wary of increased spending on Microsoft’s suite, even though the reality is that in most cases companies are unlikely to see significant savings by switching to Workspace.
“What I’ve heard from multiple IT leaders and CIOs I’ve talked to is that Microsoft 365 cost growth is not sustainable,” Mariano says. “So they’re thinking more seriously about Google Workspace than they were before.”
Gounder also sees Google’s years of efforts targeting Workspace in educational institutions starting to pay off. “Younger employees may prefer the suite over Microsoft 365, which they are less familiar with because they used Google Workspace in school,” he said.
Another factor is that IT leaders will be in a better position to evaluate their workplace app strategies once they emerge from reactive crisis mode during the pandemic.
“If you look back at the time of the pandemic, Microsoft was overjoyed. Everyone ran to Microsoft because that’s what they had,” Mariano said. “I think the problem is over, but many IT leaders and CIOs are now looking at what was left in the aftermath and saying, ‘What did we do and should we be here?’ They are taking their time to decide what the next five to 10 years will look like.”
How easy is it to migrate from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace?
For many companies, adopting Workspace means moving users away from Microsoft’s business productivity apps. Google provides tools to assist customers with the transition.
The Google Workspace Migrate tool allows administrators to move large amounts of content to a Workspace domain. Workspace Migrate lets you move data from Microsoft Exchange (2010, 2013, 2016, and 2019), Exchange Online, Microsoft SharePoint (2010, 2013, and 2016), SharePoint Online, and Microsoft OneDrive for Business. It can also be used to migrate data from cloud storage platform Box, file sharing systems, and other Workspace domains. Workspace Migrate is available for Workspace Business Standard and Business Plus, Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus, Education Standard and Education Plus.
For smaller migrations from certain Microsoft products, Google offers Google Workspace Migration for Microsoft Exchange (GWMME), Google Workspace Migration for Microsoft Outlook (GWMMO), and data migration services as other options.
Google also recently introduced a new file migration service in open beta. The service aims to simplify file transfers from OneDrive to Google Drive for up to 100 employees at a time, and promises “minimum disruption” to end users during the process. are.
Nevertheless, a complete migration from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace is not for the faint of heart. Gounder said such projects can require a “tremendous effort” for large companies, adding that “despite the supporting tools provided by Google, they are very complex to manage.” Ta.
One of the challenges that businesses face is that some features of the Microsoft 365 suite are not clearly integrated into Google Workspace. For example, Gounder said it’s difficult to migrate Teams data in a way that makes sense, while Excel has entire programming sequences, macros, and other content approaches that break when you move them to Sheets. Possibly. “Large organizations will want to work with external consulting partners, and it won’t be a small project,” he said.
What are the latest features in Google Workspace?
Google’s top priority is to integrate the Gemini AI assistant across Workspace apps.
One of the recently released Gemini for Workspace features in Meet is the Note Taker feature, which gives an AI assistant the ability to take notes during a video call, allowing participants to stay focused on the meeting.
Gemini can take notes in Google Meet meetings.
Gemini’s recent update to Gmail’s “Help me write” feature (which uses generative AI to draft emails) adds three options to refine the text of your emails: Formalize, Elaborate, and Shorten. I did.
Gems are now available to Gemini users as well. Similar to OpenAI’s GPT, Gems are customized versions of AI chat assistants that can be told to respond in specific ways. Coding Partner and Writing Editor are two examples of prebuilt gems provided by Google.
When it comes to the core Workspace app, one of the most recent additions is the “smart chip.” This is a set of interactive elements that can be embedded into documents and spreadsheets to enhance collaboration. When a coworker clicks on an embedded chip, they can see more information, such as personal or business contact details, or take actions, such as changing the status of a task from a drop-down menu.
Howard Wen / IDG
We are currently developing a new Workspace app, Vids. This is a video creation app that guides users through the process of creating simple videos for purposes such as sales pitches, employee training, and learning and development. The app’s AI assistant can, for example, create storyboards and suggest background images, or provide preset voiceovers to narrate videos. This app is currently in preview at Workspace Labs.
What’s next for Google Workspace?
Gemini is already integrated into a wide range of Workspace apps, but it’s safe to say that Google will continue to focus on developing AI assistants for work.
“I think it’s Gemini, Gemini, Gemini for them right now,” Mariano said.
One of the AI features in development is AI Teammate for Workspace. This is an AI agent that human employees can interact with directly in the Workspace Chat app. The prototype, unveiled at this year’s Google I/O, could be used for a variety of purposes, including project monitoring and tracking.
However, it remains to be seen whether Google’s investment in Gemini will result in attracting more companies to its Workspace suite. “Google continues to enhance Workspace with AI-based tools, but we’re not yet at the point where Gemini will drive businesses to Google Workspace,” Gownder said.
One strength for Google could be the combination of its Gemini and Workspace apps with its hardware business, with Google’s Pixel smartphones capable of running AI on-device. “This is a competitive advantage for them, and looking at what’s going to happen with AI, it could grow even more in the coming years,” Mariano said.
However, it’s not all about AI. Another interesting product in development is Project Starline, a 3D video conferencing system that gives users the feeling of being in the same room. Google recently announced plans to commercialize the system, which has been in development for several years, in 2025.
