Google is making a major change to your business storage – but don’t panic

If you feel your small business or start-up isn’t getting enough from its cloud storage, then a new approach from Google Workspace could be the answer you’re looking for.

The company has announced it will be switching to a pooled storage model for users on its entry-level Google Workspace Business Starter plan.

Designed to help those start-ups and smaller firms that are looking to grow fast, Google Workspace Business Starter had previously offered 30GB of storage per user, but it will now see a significant increase due to the new change.

Google Workspace pooled storage

Instead, Google Workspace is now moving to a pooled storage approach, meaning capacity is shared across a whole organization.

Asides from removing the need to manage usage on a per-user basis, solving a significant resource drain for admins, the company also says it offers a more simple and flexible method overall.

Business Starter members will also soon gain access to shared drives, allowing them to create shared drives and add members, files, and folders. Google Workspace says the move should help reduce the friction around file sharing and online collaboration, as well as making it easier to discover files, and access them wherever you need to, “regardless of location or device”.

“Part of empowering our customers to do their best work means reducing the friction around file sharing and collaboration,” noted the company in a Google Workspace blog post announcing the change.

New customers signing up for a Business Starter subscription will be the first to receive the new pooled storage approach, with existing Business Starter customers set to move over during the next few months.

Currently, Google Workspace Business Starter subscription plans start at $6 per user per month, with users also able to select a more advanced Standard or Plus offer at $12 or $18 per user per month.

Anyone looking for something simpler can try out the company’s most basic plan, with Google Workspace Essentials providing access to the likes of Meet, Chat, Drive, Docs, Sheets, Slides for free – you don’t even need a Gmail account to sign up.

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