Google Workspace Business SKU 300 seat cap will be enforced starting June 7, 2021

Google Workspace Business SKU 300 seat cap will be enforced starting June 7, 2021

Overview

When the Google Workspace SKUs were released in October 2020, there were notable changes in the way Google categorized the plans into 2 SKU families as follows:

1. Google Workspace Business SKU Family; Companies can only purchase up to a Maximum 300 users under this family with the following plans under this family;

   1. Google Workspace Business Starter

   2. Google Workspace Business Standard

   3. Google Workspace Business Plus

2. Google Workspace Enterprise SKU Family:  Companies with 300 users automatically only have the options to buy this SKU and not the Business family one.  No Minimum users are needed for this family skue with the following plans under it:

   1. Google Workspace Enterprise Essentials

   2. Google Workspace Enterprise Standard

   3. Google Workspace Enterprise Plus

The Changes and Impact

With these changes in SKUs, companies would have to review their number of users among other considerations, when deciding what SKU/plan would be a fit for this organization.  For instance, a company with 350 staff/users would not be able to buy the Google Workspace Business Starter or Business Standard (ON THEIR OWN), it would have to consider Google Workspace Enterprise as it exceeds the set cap of 300 users on the Business family SKU. But a company with 30 users could opt to buy Enterprise SKU's if it so chooses, even though it would as well qualify to purchase Business SKU plans like Starter and Business Standard!

While some exceptions were granted to exceed the maximum seat cap, that is, Companies could have more than 300 users and still be allowed(exempted) to buy/stay on the Business family SKUs/plans such as Business Starter. However, starting June 7, 2021, all new and growing Google Workspace customers within the Google Workspace Business Family will be subject to the 300 seat maximum.  This means, any customer with more than 300 users, and is not on the Enterprise SKU family will be impacted  with the cap enforcement as follows:

Customer Action Items/steps:

• For new customers with requirements >300 seats,  they will have to review and purchase the Google Workspace Enterprise SKU that best meets their needs. 

• For existing customers with requirements >300 seats, on any G Suite or Google Workspace Plan that is renewing after 07 June 2021 will be renewed automatically onto Google Workspace Enterprise SKUs.*

• For existing customers with requirements >300 seats,  on the PDL ( mixed up plans), they will have to follow the revved mixing guidelines; i,.e mixing is permissible only on the  same family of SKU; ( Business SKU family or Enterprise family SKU

Summary of Google Workspace Business Family SKU Plans

Summary of Google Workspace Enterprise Family SKU Plans

Response to Questions that are likely to be frequently asked (FAQs) by customers

What will happen to us as a customer who signed multi-year contracts before this change? When will the new SKUs be applicable to them?

Google is committed to maintaining stable deal pricing on features for customers that are mid-contract. This means, all such customers will use the features on the plan they had a contract on until its completion when they will have to choose the renewal on the new Workspace Plans

What will happen with customer files if they exceed storage limits with the new SKUs?

Customers will not lose any files. However, they will not be able to upload additional files without freeing up space first. Customers should consider upgrading to a SKU that meets their storage requirements.

Can customers mix different SKUs within one domain (Partial Domain Licensing)? And if so, does the 300-seat cap still apply?

YES; Talk to us for details here

With Vault being moved from the G Suite Business SKU into Workspace Business Plus, will we as customers need to migrate to Business Plus to keep Vault?

Yes. Vault functionality is available in the Business Plus SKU moving forward (e.g., after renewal), and that will be the destination SKU for customers currently using, or who want to start using Vault. 

How will we handle a feature if as customers we decide to migrate from legacy G Suite SKUs to a new SKU, including G Suite Business→Business Standard?

Should customers decide to self-migrate to a new SKU that does not have the features corresponding to their current subscription, they’ll encounter a splash screen that specifies the changes in features and subscription. After that, our standard data policies apply. 

What are the Archived User SKUs?

Archived User is a new offering from Google that allows customers of Google Workspace SKUs the ability to archive their end user’s data so that the same can be made available to other users in the organization. Archived data continues to respect the data retention and data location policies that have been set up for the organization via the Admin console. 

How is Archived User different from suspending or deleting the User?

If a user is archived the following take place

• The user is prevented from signing into any Google Services (GMail, Drive etc.) or from even signing into other services that may use Google SSO (if enabled by the customer)

• All the user’s data associated with core and non core services is retained

• All policies (data retention, data location, DLP etc.) applied on a user’s data are enforced

If a user is suspended then the customer will pay the full price for retaining the user’s data as against the reduced price of archiving a user. Suspension is typically used for short periods of time (say when the user is on a sabbatical). Archival on the other hand is used when a user has left the organization, but the data associated with the account is still needed. 

Partner Support/Contacts

Verify at Google Cloud Partner Listing; https://cloud.withgoogle.com/partners.

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