Why Google Workspace?
Google Workspace (formerly G Suite) is the main alternative to Microsoft 365. For small businesses, it offers:
- **Gmail for business**: Professional email at your domain, with Google's excellent spam filtering
- **Google Drive**: 30GB-5TB storage per user, with powerful sharing
- **Google Docs, Sheets, Slides**: Real-time collaboration without "save and send"
- **Google Meet**: Video conferencing built into calendar and Gmail
- **Google Calendar**: Shared calendars that actually work
- **Simpler admin**: Cleaner interface than Microsoft 365's labyrinth
The trade-off: no desktop apps (browser-based), less powerful for complex spreadsheets, and some enterprises still expect Microsoft file formats.
Choosing the Right Plan
Business Starter - £4.60/user/month
**Includes**:
- Business email
- 30GB storage per user
- Meet (up to 100 participants)
- Standard support
**Best for**: Very small teams, low storage needs.
Business Standard - £9.20/user/month
**Includes everything in Starter, plus**:
- 2TB storage per user
- Meet (up to 150 participants) with recording
- Shared drives (team storage)
- Enhanced security controls
**Best for**: Most small businesses. The sweet spot.
Business Plus - £13.80/user/month
**Includes everything in Standard, plus**:
- 5TB storage per user
- Meet (up to 500 participants)
- Vault for eDiscovery and retention
- Enhanced security and compliance
**Best for**: Businesses with compliance requirements or heavy storage needs.
Comparison Table
| Feature | Starter (£4.60) | Standard (£9.20) | Plus (£13.80) |
|---------|-----------------|------------------|---------------|
| Storage per user | 30GB | 2TB | 5TB |
| Shared drives | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meet participants | 100 | 150 | 500 |
| Meet recording | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vault (retention/eDiscovery) | ✗ | ✗ | ✓ |
| Enhanced security | Basic | Enhanced | Advanced |
**Our recommendation**: Business Standard gives you shared drives and meeting recording—both essential for proper collaboration.
Setting Up: The Right Order
Step 1: Sign Up and Verify Your Domain
You'll need a domain you control for business email.
**During signup**:
1. Enter your business details
2. Choose your domain option (existing or buy new)
3. Create your first admin account
**Domain verification** proves you own the domain:
1. Google provides a TXT record
2. Add it to your DNS settings
3. Wait for verification (usually quick, sometimes hours)
Step 2: Secure Your Admin Account
Your first account is a super admin. Protect it:
1. Use a strong, unique password
2. Enable 2-Step Verification immediately
3. Save backup codes securely
4. Consider creating a second admin account as backup
5. Don't use this account for daily work
Step 3: Configure Gmail
**DNS records to add**:
| Record Type | Purpose |
|-------------|--------|
| MX records | Direct email to Google |
| SPF | Verify emails came from you |
| DKIM | Cryptographically sign emails |
| DMARC | Tell receivers how to handle failures |
Google's setup wizard walks through each step. Don't skip SPF, DKIM, and DMARC—they're crucial for email deliverability.
**Email settings to configure**:
- Default "From" address format
- Email routing rules if needed
- Spam filtering (defaults are good for most)
- Confidential mode settings
**Groups and aliases**:
- Create groups for team email (sales@, support@, info@)
- Groups can be email lists or collaborative inboxes
- No additional license cost for groups
Step 4: Set Up Google Drive
**Personal vs Shared Drives**:
- **My Drive**: Personal storage, owned by the user
- **Shared drives**: Team storage, owned by the organisation
**Admin settings** (Admin Console → Apps → Google Workspace → Drive):
- Default sharing settings (internal only recommended)
- External sharing permissions
- Link sharing defaults
- Download/copy permissions for viewers
**Create shared drives** for:
- Company-wide resources
- Department files
- Project teams
**Shared drive structure example**:
```
📁 Company Resources (All staff)
├── Policies and Procedures
├── Templates
├── Brand Assets
└── Training Materials
📁 Sales Team
├── Proposals
├── Contracts
├── Client Resources
└── Sales Reports
📁 Finance Team
├── Reports
├── Budgets
└── Invoicing
```
**Permissions best practices**:
- Manager: Full control, can add members
- Content manager: Can organise and edit, not manage membership
- Contributor: Can add and edit files
- Commenter: Can comment, not edit
- Viewer: Read only
Step 5: Set Up Google Calendar
Calendar works well out of the box, but configure:
**Organisation-wide settings**:
- Working hours default
- Calendar interop (if using alongside Exchange/Outlook)
- External sharing settings
**Create resource calendars** for:
- Meeting rooms
- Shared equipment
- Company-wide events
**Best practices**:
- Use scheduling assistant for meetings
- Enable "Speedy meetings" (25/50 min) for buffer time
- Set up "working location" for hybrid teams
- Create a company events calendar
Step 6: Configure Google Meet
**Key settings** (Admin Console → Apps → Google Meet):
- Who can create meetings
- Recording and transcription options
- Guest access (outside organisation)
- Dial-in phone numbers
- Safety settings (remove participants, mute all)
**Meeting quality tips**:
- Ensure adequate internet bandwidth (3-5 Mbps per participant)
- Use Google hardware (Chromecast, Meet hardware) for meeting rooms
- Enable noise cancellation (helps in open offices)
Step 7: Set Up Google Chat (Optional)
Google Chat provides Teams-like messaging:
- **Direct messages**: One-to-one chat
- **Spaces**: Group chat with persistence
- **Integration**: Works within Gmail
**Decide your strategy**:
- Use Chat for internal quick communication
- Keep email for formal/external communication
- Or disable Chat if you use another tool (Slack, Teams)
Security Settings to Enable Immediately
1. Two-Step Verification (2SV)
Enable for everyone:
1. Admin Console → Security → Authentication → 2-step verification
2. Set to "On" for your organisation
3. Choose enforcement date (give staff time to set up)
4. Allow various methods (authenticator app recommended)
2. Admin Account Protection
- Limit super admin accounts to 2-3 people
- Use dedicated admin accounts
- Enable Advanced Protection for admins (strongest option)
- Review admin access quarterly
3. Sharing Defaults
**Drive sharing** (Admin Console → Apps → Google Workspace → Drive):
- Set "Link sharing default" to "Off" or "Limited" (specific people)
- Restrict external sharing to approved domains if needed
- Enable warnings when sharing outside organisation
**Calendar sharing** (Admin Console → Apps → Google Workspace → Calendar):
- Control what external users can see
- Default to free/busy only for external
4. Mobile Device Management
**Basic management** (included in all plans):
- Require screen lock
- Enable remote wipe
- Block compromised devices
**Advanced management** (Standard and above):
- App management
- Device approval
- Security policies
5. Security Centre (Standard and above)
- Dashboard for security insights
- Security health recommendations
- Investigation tool for incidents
Common Setup Mistakes
Mistake 1: Skipping Email Authentication
Without SPF/DKIM/DMARC, your emails may go to spam. Configure these during setup, not months later when clients complain.
Mistake 2: Not Using Shared Drives
Files in "My Drive" belong to the user. When they leave, those files need manual transfer. Shared drives belong to the organisation—files stay when people go.
Mistake 3: Wide-Open Sharing
"Anyone with the link" is convenient but risky. Default to restricted sharing, open up when needed.
Mistake 4: Everyone as Admin
"Just make them an admin so they can help" creates security holes. Use the principle of least privilege—give only the access needed.
Mistake 5: No Backup Strategy
Google is reliable but doesn't protect against:
- User deletions (permanent after trash period)
- Ransomware (syncs to cloud)
- Account compromise (malicious deletion)
Consider Backupify, Spanning, or similar for Workspace backup.
Mistake 6: Ignoring the Admin Console
Many features require admin configuration. Spend time exploring:
- Security settings
- Directory settings
- Apps settings
- Reporting
Day-to-Day Administration
Adding Users
1. Admin Console → Directory → Users → Add new user
2. Enter name and email address
3. Assign organisational unit (if using them)
4. User receives welcome email with login instructions
Removing Users (Offboarding)
1. Reset password and revoke sessions immediately
2. Transfer data (Drive, Calendar) to another user
3. Forward email to a colleague or group (optional)
4. Convert to an archived user (saves data, no license cost) or delete
5. Wait 20 days before permanent deletion to retrieve data if needed
Groups Management
Groups are flexible—use them for:
- Email distribution lists
- Collaborative inboxes
- Access control to Drive/Calendar
- Mailing lists for external subscribers
**Group settings**:
- Who can post (members only vs anyone)
- Who can view members
- Whether posts are moderated
- Spam handling
Monitoring and Reports
**Admin Console → Reports**:
- User activity (logins, app usage)
- Apps reports (Drive, Meet, Gmail usage)
- Security reports (login challenges, suspicious activity)
- Audit logs (admin actions, user file actions)
Set up email alerts for:
- Suspended user logins
- External sharing spikes
- Admin console changes
Migration Considerations
From Microsoft 365
Google provides a data migration service:
1. Admin Console → Account → Data migration
2. Choose Microsoft 365 as source
3. Provide admin credentials
4. Select users and data types
5. Schedule and monitor migration
**Migrates well**: Email, contacts, calendar
**Needs manual attention**: OneDrive files, SharePoint, Teams content
From Gmail (Personal)
Users can import from personal Gmail:
1. Gmail → Settings → Import mail and contacts
2. Or admin-level IMAP migration
From Other Providers
- IMAP migration for most email systems
- CSV import for contacts
- Calendar import (ICS format)
- Third-party tools for complex migrations
Authority Resources
- **Google Workspace Admin Help**: [support.google.com/a](https://support.google.com/a) - Official documentation
- **Google Workspace Learning Center**: [support.google.com/a/users](https://support.google.com/a/users) - End-user training
- **Google Security Best Practices**: [workspace.google.com/security](https://workspace.google.com/security/)
- **NCSC Cloud Security Guidance**: [ncsc.gov.uk/collection/cloud-security](https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/collection/cloud-security) - UK government guidance
- **ICO Data Protection**: [ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection](https://ico.org.uk/for-organisations/guide-to-data-protection/) - UK data protection requirements
Google Workspace vs Microsoft 365
| Aspect | Google Workspace | Microsoft 365 |
|--------|------------------|---------------|
| Interface | Cleaner, web-first | More complex, more features |
| Desktop apps | Browser only | Full desktop apps |
| Offline work | Limited | Better |
| Spreadsheets | Simpler, collaborative | Excel is more powerful |
| Documents | Great for collaboration | Word has more features |
| Admin | Cleaner interface | More granular controls |
| Integration | Google ecosystem | Microsoft ecosystem |
| Price (similar tier) | £9.20/user | £10.30/user |
**Choose Google if**: You prioritise simplicity, work primarily in browser, value collaboration over complex features.
**Choose Microsoft if**: You need powerful Excel, work with enterprises expecting Office formats, have existing Microsoft investments.
Your Google Workspace Setup Checklist
**Initial Setup**
- [ ] Signed up for appropriate plan (Standard recommended)
- [ ] Verified domain ownership
- [ ] Configured admin account with 2-Step Verification
- [ ] Added DNS records (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
**Email**
- [ ] Created user accounts
- [ ] Set up groups for team email (info@, sales@, etc.)
- [ ] Configured email signatures
- [ ] Tested email delivery internally and externally
**Storage and Collaboration**
- [ ] Created shared drives for teams
- [ ] Set default sharing restrictions
- [ ] Configured external sharing policies
- [ ] Organised folder structure
**Calendar and Meet**
- [ ] Created resource calendars (meeting rooms)
- [ ] Configured Meet settings
- [ ] Set calendar sharing defaults
- [ ] Tested video meetings
**Security**
- [ ] Enforced 2-Step Verification
- [ ] Limited admin access
- [ ] Configured mobile device management
- [ ] Reviewed security dashboard
**User Readiness**
- [ ] Created staff guidelines
- [ ] Provided basic training
- [ ] Defined Drive organisation conventions
- [ ] Established Chat/email usage guidelines
Getting Started This Week
**Day 1**: Sign up, verify domain, secure admin account
**Day 2**: Configure email DNS, create users
**Day 3**: Set up shared drives and sharing policies
**Day 4**: Configure Calendar and Meet
**Day 5**: Enable 2-Step Verification, review security
**Week 2**: Migrate data, train users, refine settings
Google Workspace is easier to set up than Microsoft 365, but "easy" doesn't mean "skip the important steps." Take time to get security and sharing right, and you'll have a platform your team actually enjoys using.