Google Drive for Work: Unlimited Storage for $10
In the latest edition of what some have dubbed the cloud storage wars, Google announced at their Google I/O conference that they would be one upping Microsoft’s announcement that OneDrive users would get 15GB of free space and Office 365 users would receive 1TB of cloud storage space. Just days after Microsoft made this announcement, Google unveiled Google Drive for Work which promises users unlimited storage for only $10 per user, per month. Many cloud analysts are seeing this as a game changer.
In fact, Paul Hughes from IDC is quoted as saying, “It’s a game-changer because it forces the other players to react to such a low price point while maintaining any kind of profit margins.” On top of this limitless offering, Google has set the restrictions on individual file sizes much higher than its competing services. Some pay-to-play cloud storage offerings cap the size of the files you can store in the cloud. Services such as DropBox and OneDrive may not let you upload a large video file that is hundreds of gigs. Google Drive for Work allows users to upload multi terabyte files before getting error messages.
Google Drive for Work gives IT staff the confidence they need in order to institute a cloud file sharing service. Google Drive for Work gives administrators the ability to audit any action taken while end users are logged into the cloud. Another concern is onsite disk space and the costs associated with storing data. Scott Johnston, presenter at Google I/O and Google Drive’s Director of Product Management mentions, “IT spends a lot of time thinking about how much storage costs.”
With Google Drive for Work, IT will not have to worry about this expense because it will simply cost the company $10 per user, per month for each account that they register on the new Google Drive for Work service.
