Google Workspace is the second most widely deployed business productivity suite in the world, and its adoption rate among knowledge-work teams is higher than headline market share suggests. We manage it for clients alongside Microsoft 365 and kSuite — which means we can give you an honest read on where it genuinely excels, where it has limitations, and what European businesses should understand about data before signing up.
What Google Workspace includes
- Gmail — professional email with your domain, conversation threading, search-grade inbox and powerful filtering
- Google Drive — cloud file storage, shared drives for teams, real-time document sync
- Docs, Sheets and Slides — browser-native office applications with real-time multi-user co-editing
- Google Meet — video conferencing and screen sharing, browser-native with no install required
- Google Chat — persistent team messaging with Spaces and threaded conversations
- Google Calendar — shared calendars, resource booking and meeting scheduling
- Google Forms — structured data collection and approval workflows
- Vault — email archiving and eDiscovery for regulated sectors (Business Plus and above)
- Admin Console — user lifecycle, security configuration, mobile device management and usage reporting
Where Google Workspace genuinely excels
Real-time collaboration in Docs, Sheets and Slides is still the benchmark. Multiple people editing simultaneously, seeing each other's cursors in real time, with comment threads, suggested edits and full version history on every document. Teams that produce a lot of collaborative written content — proposals, reports, research — often find this workflow faster than anything else on the market.
The browser-native model is a genuine structural advantage for distributed or device-heterogeneous teams. Docs, Sheets and Meet run in a browser at full functionality — no installed app, no Windows dependency, same experience on a Chromebook, Mac, Linux or Windows machine. For organisations that manage device diversity, this is operationally meaningful.
Shared drives: team storage that doesn't leave when someone does
Shared Drives are one of Google Workspace's most practically useful features for growing businesses. Files in a Shared Drive belong to the team, not the individual. When an employee leaves, the files stay — no scramble to transfer ownership, no risk of someone's Drive disappearing with their account. Access controls are set at the drive level with granular member roles. For teams that routinely collaborate on shared file collections, this is cleaner than the standard model in most competing suites.
Business plans
- Business Starter (from approximately €5.75/user/month): professional email, Meet, Chat, 2 TB pooled storage per user
- Business Standard (from approximately €11.50/user/month): adds 5 TB pooled storage, large meeting recording, noise cancellation
- Business Plus (from approximately €17.25/user/month): adds Vault for archiving and eDiscovery, advanced endpoint management
- Enterprise: custom pricing, unlimited storage, data loss prevention, security investigation tool
What European businesses should know about data
Google is a US-headquartered company and a subsidiary of Alphabet Inc. Google Workspace's EU data residency options allow European customers to have their data stored at rest in EU datacentres. For most European business data — email content, documents, spreadsheets — this is achievable and sufficient.
The same structural consideration that applies to Microsoft 365 applies here: the CLOUD Act can compel US companies to disclose data held anywhere in the world, including in EU datacentres, when presented with a qualifying US government order. For most businesses, Google Workspace with EU data residency is a practical and acceptable choice. For organisations in sectors where any theoretical foreign government access would constitute a compliance failure, Swiss hosting is worth examining. We can walk through what that means for your specific context.
Solvetus manages Google Workspace for you
We handle Google Workspace administration as a managed service: user and group management, Shared Drive structure, security configuration, MFA rollout, mail routing and deliverability, and ongoing support. We also run migrations to Google Workspace from Microsoft 365 or on-premises mail systems, and we regularly audit existing Workspace tenants that have grown without a structured admin policy — external sharing set too permissive, inactive accounts still licensed, no retention policy in place.
Frequently asked questions
- Can we use our existing email domain with Google Workspace?
- Yes. Google Workspace works with your existing domain — your email addresses stay the same (@yourcompany.com). The change is entirely infrastructure-level, invisible to clients and contacts.
- Is there a minimum number of users?
- No. Google Workspace Business plans start at a single user. There is no minimum seat requirement.
- Is Google Workspace GDPR compliant?
- Google Workspace can be configured for GDPR compliance and Google provides a GDPR-aligned data processing agreement. EU data residency options keep core data stored in EU datacentres. For the large majority of European business use cases, this is sufficient. Sectors with strict data jurisdiction requirements should assess whether the CLOUD Act consideration is material for their specific context.
- Can we migrate from Microsoft 365 to Google Workspace?
- Yes. We handle migrations covering email, calendar, contacts and files. The move is planned in phases to keep your team operational throughout.
- What's the main difference between Google Workspace and Microsoft 365?
- Google Workspace is browser-native by design — Docs, Sheets, Slides and Meet run at full capability in a browser without installation. Microsoft 365 is deeper for Windows-heavy environments, SharePoint document management and organisations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem. Both are capable; the right choice depends on your workflow and existing infrastructure.
- When should we look at kSuite instead?
- kSuite (Infomaniak) is worth serious consideration when Swiss data hosting matters for your context, when 6 TB of storage per user is relevant (versus Google's pooled model), or when price is the primary driver (kSuite Pro at €1.58/user versus Workspace Starter at approximately €5.75/user). The trade-off is that Docs, Sheets and Meet remain more mature collaboration tools than their kSuite equivalents.