3 ms·

Doesn't Google Workspace start at $7 per month? I can't see a business user going to those lengths to save $1 or $2 per month.

by beejiu 1y ago

ocdtrekkie 1y ago
I know businesses that use Gmail and have all their staff make username.businessname@gmail.com addresses. Do not bet against how much small businesses don't want to pay for stuff, you will always lose.
- cj 1y ago
  The bigger cost of Google Workspace is the administrative overhead. The admin panel for Google Workspace is extremely powerful. Hundreds/thousands of settings. Great for medium/large businesses with a dedicated IT person. A huge headache for small businesses.
  - deleted 1y ago
    [deleted]
  - ocdtrekkie 1y ago
    I think a minimum of being able to shut down an account when you fire someone and delete the data is worth having manageability, but small businesses will do anything, even additional staff administrative overhead, to avoid paying a subscription.
    - Brian_K_White 1y ago
      You can't both realize that getting people to pay you even a tiny but recurring subscription is how you get a fat and easy life, and at the same time fail to realize that paying anyone else even a tiny but recurring subscription is how you give someone else a fat and easy life at the expense of your own.
      - cj 1y ago
        The majority of small businesses aren’t subscription based services. I was assuming we were talking about companies like your local coffee shop.
        TeMPOraL 1y ago
        Same companies are also mortally offended by the very idea of having to pay salaries and (gasp!) taxes; asking them to also pay for tools feels like adding an insult to injury!
  - londons_explore 1y ago
    I always find the admin panel hugely restrictive. It's missing basic features like "just let me impersonate this user now". The number of times our support staff have to walk someone through the process of doing something when the ability to impersonate a user would just let them do it far quicker.
    - metadat 1y ago
      > Nobody deserves even a modicum of privacy. Let's make it 0 friction to inspect what they're doing at all times. Features cut both ways. Am I respectful of my work equipment? Yes. Would it be net good for my boss to automatically get a report of everything on my screen everyday, not particularly. So could we not have the largest platforms make it even easier than it already is to be creepy AF?
      - cwillu 1y ago
        Impersonation is not what you seem to think it is.
      - nerdsniper 1y ago
        Every system I design has this "impersonation" feature, and none of them have any capability for surveilling usage. It's just a way for me to see what my customers are seeing. Helps me understand their problems, bugs in my system, etc. I have direct access to all the prod databases and lots of tools for inspection/auditing. This isn't for that. It's for helping people by seeing/using the system through their eyes.
      - layman51 1y ago
        It ideally doesn't need to be a privacy-invading thing, but rather a way for administrators troubleshoot issues a bit easier without having to get on a screensharing call. I think maybe what makes it difficult is that Gmail might be used as the key to authenticate into other accounts (like for shadow IT). And in the ideal case, even this action that a Google Workspace administrator logged in as someone else would be automatically written into an audit trail.
jonathantf2 1y ago
I have had multiple people scream at me on the phone for daring to suggest that a new person working needs their own email account and it will cost about £4 ($5.30~) a month
- luckydata 1y ago
  you work for the wrong people
  - FirmwareBurner 1y ago
    If only life could be so easy that we could all avoid working for the "wrong people".
- schnable 1y ago
  Going from $0? That isn't surprising.
OhMeadhbh 1y ago
Yeah... but Workspace has other problems. The only thing Workspace gives you is a more direct way to pay Google until they freeze your account.
pier25 1y ago
Per user/domain. I'm retrieving POP emails from multiple domains. To migrate to Google Workspace I'd need to pay like $40 per month... and a couple of those inboxes rarely receive any emails.

Doesn't Google Workspace start at $7 per month? I can't see a business user going to those lengths to save $1 or $2 per month.

by beejiu 1y ago

Doesn't Google Workspace start at $7 per month? I can't see a business user going to those lengths to save $1 or $2 per month.

ocdtrekkie 1y ago

I know businesses that use Gmail and have all their staff make username.businessname@gmail.com addresses. Do not bet against how much small businesses don't want to pay for stuff, you will always lose.

cj 1y ago
The bigger cost of Google Workspace is the administrative overhead. The admin panel for Google Workspace is extremely powerful. Hundreds/thousands of settings. Great for medium/large businesses with a dedicated IT person. A huge headache for small businesses.
- deleted 1y ago
  [deleted]
- ocdtrekkie 1y ago
  I think a minimum of being able to shut down an account when you fire someone and delete the data is worth having manageability, but small businesses will do anything, even additional staff administrative overhead, to avoid paying a subscription.
  - Brian_K_White 1y ago
    You can't both realize that getting people to pay you even a tiny but recurring subscription is how you get a fat and easy life, and at the same time fail to realize that paying anyone else even a tiny but recurring subscription is how you give someone else a fat and easy life at the expense of your own.
    - cj 1y ago
      The majority of small businesses aren’t subscription based services. I was assuming we were talking about companies like your local coffee shop.
      - TeMPOraL 1y ago
        Same companies are also mortally offended by the very idea of having to pay salaries and (gasp!) taxes; asking them to also pay for tools feels like adding an insult to injury!
- londons_explore 1y ago
  I always find the admin panel hugely restrictive. It's missing basic features like "just let me impersonate this user now". The number of times our support staff have to walk someone through the process of doing something when the ability to impersonate a user would just let them do it far quicker.
  - metadat 1y ago
    > Nobody deserves even a modicum of privacy. Let's make it 0 friction to inspect what they're doing at all times. Features cut both ways. Am I respectful of my work equipment? Yes. Would it be net good for my boss to automatically get a report of everything on my screen everyday, not particularly. So could we not have the largest platforms make it even easier than it already is to be creepy AF?
    - cwillu 1y ago
      Impersonation is not what you seem to think it is.
    - nerdsniper 1y ago
      Every system I design has this "impersonation" feature, and none of them have any capability for surveilling usage. It's just a way for me to see what my customers are seeing. Helps me understand their problems, bugs in my system, etc. I have direct access to all the prod databases and lots of tools for inspection/auditing. This isn't for that. It's for helping people by seeing/using the system through their eyes.
    - layman51 1y ago
      It ideally doesn't need to be a privacy-invading thing, but rather a way for administrators troubleshoot issues a bit easier without having to get on a screensharing call. I think maybe what makes it difficult is that Gmail might be used as the key to authenticate into other accounts (like for shadow IT). And in the ideal case, even this action that a Google Workspace administrator logged in as someone else would be automatically written into an audit trail.

jonathantf2 1y ago

I have had multiple people scream at me on the phone for daring to suggest that a new person working needs their own email account and it will cost about £4 ($5.30~) a month

luckydata 1y ago
you work for the wrong people
- FirmwareBurner 1y ago
  If only life could be so easy that we could all avoid working for the "wrong people".
schnable 1y ago
Going from $0? That isn't surprising.

OhMeadhbh 1y ago

Yeah... but Workspace has other problems. The only thing Workspace gives you is a more direct way to pay Google until they freeze your account.

pier25 1y ago

Per user/domain. I'm retrieving POP emails from multiple domains. To migrate to Google Workspace I'd need to pay like $40 per month... and a couple of those inboxes rarely receive any emails.