G Suite Enterprise Adoption: Slow But Sure

Google has made significant inroads into the small business market with G Suite. For new business owners who have been using consumer Gmail, moving to G Suite is an easy transition.

However, Google has faced several barriers to widespread G Suite enterprise adoption. Here are some of those barriers and what Google is doing to address them.

Obstacles to More Widespread G Suite Enterprise Adoption

1. Missing management tools that enterprise IT managers demand

Google has taken steps to address this issue through continuous improvement to the suite of products. The recent release of security center for G Suite is an example. Security improvements are near and dear to CIOs.

If Google can demonstrate superiority across the multiple email vulnerability threats, including the self inflicted user wounds of clicking a link in a phishing email, that will go a long way.

2. The predominance of the Microsoft brand in the minds of IT management

This issue runs deep. Brand familiarity is generally a very strong factor in the minds of both consumer and business buyers. The Microsoft brand is seared in the frontal cortices of many IT managers who are over a certain age.

For a substantial swing of enterprise adoption in Google’s direction at the enterprise level, it may take the flow through of millennials into IT management positions.

This is being addressed by Google’s long game. The long game has involved providing free versions of G Suite to colleges and universities. Many millennials have grown up with Gmail and G Suite.

3. The desktop is still alive and well in many enterprises

While G Suite is mainly a cloud solution with some desktop options, Microsoft Office is a hybrid of cloud and desktop.

For many enterprises, Microsoft Office aligns better with the practice of building and supporting a Windows machine for each employee.

Google has been trying to turn this tide through the promotion of Chromebook Enterprise, a solution that means centralized management of a fleet of relatively low maintenance computers.

For U.S. Businesses: try G Suite free for 14 days

Enterprises That Have Adopted G Suite

Despite Google’s efforts, Fortune 500 companies are not yet lining up for G Suite. However, there are a number of early adopters.

Here are examples of larger companies that have adopted G Suite:

• All Nippon Airways
• ATB Financial (Forbes article)
• Box
• Colgate-Palmolive
• Curves
• Dow Jones
• Nielsen Holdings
• Salesforce.com
• Shaw Floors
• The Roche Group
• The Weather Company
• Verizon Communications
• Xero

Google provides a more detailed listing of its G Suite customers.

Salesforce.com, which competes against Microsoft in the CRM space and which has many enterprise customers, could be a valuable strategic account for Google. Salesforce and Google announced a multifaceted strategic alliance in the fall of 2017.