Item: Google Workspace
Rating: 7
Author: Mike Calabro

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

I use Google Workspace for my freelance photography business. I started way back in the day when it was called G Suite, over 10 years ago. I started using to host my email using my own domain name for free. I also use the Calendar a lot. It was a good solution to have access across different devices. Workspace still needs improvement.

Pros and Cons

Email host
Calendar integration across the entire suit of apps
Built in spell check
email filtering

Google Workspace is terrible if you use any Google nest deceives
Most Nest devices will not work if you have a Google Workspace account.
Surprisingly, Gmail UI is not the best.
Needs improvement with organization of apps (Docs, sheets, etc)

Most Important Features

Gmail
Multi-platform sharing
Calendar

Return on Investment

Keeping Workspace as my email host saves lots of time. Otherwise, I would have to start from scratch.
I have wasted lots of money on Nest devices that do not have full compatibility with Workspace.
I am forced to used Workspace. It would shut my business down for weeks having to change services.

Alternatives Considered

Microsoft Office 2016 (discontinued), Microsoft 365 (formerly Office 365), Microsoft Excel, Amazon Drive, Dropbox and Dropbox Paper

There are lots of things that Microsoft 365 does better than Workspace. The problem is that I am stuck in the Google world. It would take way too much time and energy to change platforms. There are lots of other options to choose from but none of them are perfect. Workspace is almost a necessary evil, especially if you are an android user.

Key Insights

Do you think Google Workspace delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Google Workspace's feature set?

Did Google Workspace live up to sales and marketing promises?

Did implementation of Google Workspace go as expected?

Would you buy Google Workspace again?

Yes

Likelihood to Recommend

If you are a small business and need a good email host, there are not many other solutions as robust and easy to use as Google Workspace. Having an entire suite of tools that work across all of your devices is definitely a plus. I don't think all of the tools under Google Workspace are as powerful to use as MS Word, and Excel. I do love how well Google Workspace integrates with my android phone. I don't know what I would do without it. But, I also hate Workspace. I have many Nest devices that are crippled because Workspace does not support many of the features. None of my nest cams will work with Workspace. Even the cam on my Nest Hub Max will not work if you have a Workspace account. Same thing with the Nest Thermostat. I had to set up a separate Gmail account to use some of my devices, but this is not a good solution because you will no longer have access to your calendar, email, and added services such as Spotify. It is really sad that Google cripples their Nest devices to customers that actually pay for their services.

Training Types Used

no training

A necessary evil that it will cripple all of your Nest devices.

Overall Satisfaction with Google Workspace (formerly G Suite)