In today’s technologically-advanced world, organisations have infinitely mounting storage needs. A study by 451 Research revealed the combination of shrinking IT budgets, growing data and a desire for a more responsive storage environment has made cloud services more attractive than ever before.
This year, the majority of organisations surveyed by Tech Target said 10- 40% of their data will be making its way to the cloud. Those organisations will experience a wide array of advantages, including greater access, efficiency and more.
What is Google Drive for Work?
Organisations use cloud storage services to store their information in remote data centres maintained by a third party. But Google Drive for Work is more than just a holding cell for company data.
The perks of Google’s business-targeted service include increased security and visibility over how files are stored and shared as well as unlimited storage and data uploads.
Organisations have been waiting a long time for a secure storage solution. Drive for Work allows them to leverage the benefits of cloud storage while maintaining high standards of compliance and security.
What are the benefits of Google Drive for Work?
Unlimited Storage
Unlike any other storage service, Google Drive for Work provides organisations with unlimited storage for a set monthly fee. This exclusive feature allows organisations to redirect operational and financial resources away from time-consuming and costly storage upgrades.
In 451 Research’s study, data growth was listed as the biggest pain point by storage professionals. Capacity expansion can cost organisations valuable time and money while data is migrated to other systems during repeated upgrades. It was found that organisations spend as much of their storage budgets on operational overhead as they do actual products, but Google Drive for Work’s unlimited storage plan ensures no additional purchases are necessary.
There’s no question that switching to Drive for Work can dramatically reduce storage expenditure and reduce time wasted during capacity upgrades and refreshes.
Collaboration
Few organisations have the tools to harness the true power of collaboration. Google Drive for Work promotes seamless group work via anytime, anywhere access, secure file- sharing and video conferencing.
Proposed teamwork is often met with a collective groan from employees anticipating version conflicts, bottlenecks and other obstacles. Yet 87% of business leaders say capabilities enabled by cloud-based solutions represent a true breakthrough in collaboration.
Using Drive for Work, employees can access content off any device with an internet connection. Time zones and geographical distance cease to cause delays, as changes and edits to content are automatically synced. This ensures only the latest version of the document or file is worked on.
In addition, collaborators can schedule ‘Hangouts’, or video conferences for up to 15 people at a time. This intelligent technology mutes background noise and allows screen-sharing to streamline communications. For example, the person in the screenshot below is communicating with three other people simultaneously:
Google Drive for Work equips an organisation’s workforce with tools to solve problems as a collective, leading to greater innovation and a more successful business.
Visibility and Control
The strategic advantage cloud offers has always been mitigated by security issues. In order to increase customer confidence in Google Drive, the company implemented new admin controls, advanced file reporting, encryption and a host of other security features.
Cloud security remains the number one inhibitor to cloud adoption. While these fears are not unfounded, Google boasts enterprise-grade security infrastructure and controls definitely outside the reach of smaller organisations.
Drive for Work gives organisations the ability to customise the what, how, when and where of file-sharing. Security tools allow for the securing of devices, management of users, permissions, and auditing of user activity.
IT admins can keep an eye on activity such as uploading and downloading files as well as renaming, editing and sharing content with others. See the below screenshot for an example of the controls:
Encryption at rest and in transmission means data is protected from prying eyes even when being transferred from Google’s data centres to an employee’s mobile device.
The introduction of new technologies will always produce new security concerns. Google’s Drive for Work provides the tools necessary to manage potential threats, helping organisations stay protected and profitable.
What are the challenges for Google Drive for Work?
- Many concerns have been raised about the search engine’s ability collect information about you and use it for advertising purposes. However, this does not apply to Drive for Work and other Google Apps services. The company only processes your data to fulfil contractual obligations and definitely doesn’t sell your data to third parties.
- Third-party app integration can sometimes open a backdoor in your organisation. In order to avoid this, evaluate applications in regards to what permissions they require and whether you really need the app. Some apps require certain permissions to perform their function, so carefully assess what you are granting access to and why before proceeding.
Steps to implementing Google Drive for Work
- Firstly, ascertain how many employees need accounts, as organisations with less than five accounts won’t receive unlimited storage, but will still receive 1TB per user. “To put that in perspective,” says Scott Johnson, Director of Product Management for Google Drive, “no desktop or laptop on the market today even has a hard drive big enough to capture and store a file that size.”
- Educate staff on the benefits of Drive for Work. Implementing the technology won’t make employees use it - show them how it can decrease their workload.
- Sign up for a Google Drive for Work account here.
- Hold regular training sessions to demonstrate how Drive for Work can be used to increase efficiency. Additionally, ensure staff know what is expected of them. For example, letting them know who they are allowed to share what with and being transparent about the fact their activity will be audited.
Organisations everywhere are adopting cloud services to try to gain an advantage over the competition. Google Drive for Work equips a modern workforce with soaring capabilities, all the while protecting the core of your business and ensuring a successful future.
If you need a hand setting up Google Drive for your organisation, give us a call and we can discuss your needs.