If you haven't partnered with Interlock IT for your Google Workspace needs, we highly recommend joining us to revolutionize your digital experience. With Interlock IT, you're empowered to navigate Google Workspace adeptly, ensuring seamless operations, informed decisions, and expert management of your digital ecosystem. Join us today and unlock a new level of productivity!
Interlock IT Inc. - moving businesses to the cloud since 2009
Friday, November 24, 2023
Optimizing Google Workspace Operations: The Interlock IT Solution
If you haven't partnered with Interlock IT for your Google Workspace needs, we highly recommend joining us to revolutionize your digital experience. With Interlock IT, you're empowered to navigate Google Workspace adeptly, ensuring seamless operations, informed decisions, and expert management of your digital ecosystem. Join us today and unlock a new level of productivity!
Tuesday, October 5, 2021
Google Workspace transition from G Suite is happening soon!
On October 6, 2020 Google introduced the Google Workspace brand, product experience, and set of offerings to better equip customers for the future of work. Whether you're at home, at work, or in the classroom, Google Workspace is the best way to create, communicate, and collaborate.
Google has notified Google Cloud Partners like us that G Suite customers will be automatically transitioned beginning January 31st, 2022.
But please note that all legacy G Suite customers can choose to transition or upgrade early to receive the new Workspace features, plus take advantage of pricing incentives on annual commitments.
For customers on G Suite Business with Google Vault, the switch to Google Workspace Standard increases the price from $15.60 CAD to $23.40 CAD or $18 USD/user/month:
G Suite (Old) | Google Workspace (New) | ||
Features | G Suite Business | Business Standard | Business Plus |
Storage | Unlimited | 2TB | 5TB |
Google Meet Recording | ❌ | ✅ | ✅ |
Maximum Number of Meet participants | 100 | 150 | 250 |
Device Audit Log | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Google Vault | ✅ | ❌ | ✅ |
Price - Monthly | $15.60 CAD | $15.60 CAD | $23.40 CAD |
For customers on G Suite Basic the price remains the same at $7.80 CAD or $6 USD/user/month and the only features lost in the switch to Google Workspace Starter are Android and endpoint device management related.
If you have a legacy G Suite subscription and buy direct from Google, transitions to Google Workspace subscriptions and prices will begin as soon as November 2021. We highly recommend contacting a Google Workspace focused partner like us to review incentives available for upgrading. We deeply understand the nuances of the different plans and will ensure you buy only what you need, potentially saving you big money over the long term.
For customers considering dropping Google Vault, we offer less expensive 3rd party backup options that provide superior protection against malicious actions, as well as disaster recovery. Google Vault, however, is still the best option for e-discovery, retention policies, and legal holds.
For expert assistance on transitioning to Google Workspace, email us at info@interlockit.com or call us at (416) 840-6268 !
Helpful links:
Wednesday, March 10, 2021
Interlock IT wins Copper Customer First Partner Award!
We are happy to share this achievement! Interlock IT wins Copper Customer First Partner Award. Whether it's a customization of your company workflow, integration or going live plan, our team is always here to help you get it done. Click here to find out how we can help.
Tuesday, July 2, 2019
Google Calendar Exporting / Importing
Google to Google Calendar Migration
Exporting from Google Calendar
- Open Google Calendar on the source account
- Go to Calendar settings > Import & Export
- Click Export, and a ZIP file with all calendars will download to your computer
- Extract the ZIP file, noting there is a separate .ics file for each calendar
Importing to Google Calendar
- Open Google Calendar on the target account
- If they don't already exist, create an appropriate target calendar for each calendar you will import to this account. Note, often you may not want to bring the primary calendar of the source account into the primary calendar of the target account.
- Go to Calendar settings > Import & Export
- Select the .ics file you intend to import
- Select the appropriate target calendar
- Click Import
Dealing with large calendars that fail to import
- Open the original .ics file and identify the headers.
- Create two new blank .ics files (name them appropriately to keep track of them) and paste the headers into each file.
- From the original .ics file, select roughly the first half of events by starting at the first line with "BEGIN:VEVENT" and choosing a line that contains "END:VEVENT" somewhere near the middle of the file. Copy-paste this into the first new .ics file.
- From the original .ics file, select the next half of events after the data you copied, which should be the next event beginning with "BEGIN:VEVENT" all the way to near the end of the file, the last line that contains "END:VEVENT". Copy-paste this into the second new .ics file.
- Open the original .ics file and identify the footers.
- Copy-paste the footers to the end of each of the new .ics files.
- Save both of your new files and proceed to import them one-by-one.
Tuesday, February 12, 2019
Go paperless with the Google Drive App on your smartphone
Scan with the Google Drive App and go paperless
Sunday, January 20, 2019
New pricing for G Suite Basic and Business FAQ for Canada and USA
If you are buying G suite from Google directly or through another Google Cloud Partner please visit this blog post to learn how to lock in today's pricing for 1 more year for significant savings!
We've created this FAQ to help customers understand the pricing changes and will continue to update it as new information becomes available for Canadian and USA customers in CAD and USD.
On January 16th, 2019 Google Cloud Announced price increases that will take effect April 2nd, 2019.
The new prices in USD and CAD are below:
G Suite Edition | USD (per user/month) | CAD (per user/month) |
Basic | $6 | $7.80 |
Business | $12 | $15.60 |
Enterprise | $25 | $34.00 |
Enterprise Edition prices remain the same.
You can find the current USD pricing and an overview of what's contained in each edition here: https://gsuite.google.com/pricing.html
A detailed comparison of the G Suite editions is here: https://gsuite.google.com/compare-editions/
The $50/user/year G Suite Basic Annual plan which was a 20% discount over the $5/user/month ($60/user/year) Flex plan has been eliminated. Annual and Monthly Flex plans now cost the same overall per year. There will no longer be a discount for locking into an Annual plan.
G Suite Edition | Ends April 1st, 2020 (per user/month) | Starts April 2nd, 2020 (per user/month) |
Basic | $7.02 CAD (10% discount) | $7.80 CAD (regular price) |
Business | $13.26 CAD (15% discount) | $15.60 CAD (regular price) |
For customers on Annual plans the discount will apply to the full first year of renewals occurring April 2nd, 2019 until December 31st, 2019. Renewals prior to April 2nd, 2019 will not see a price increase until renewal in 2020. Annual plan customers cannot renew early/reset their contract term unless they upgrade to Business or Enterprise. Annual CAD renewals after December 31st, 2019 will not receive the regional discount.
Upgrading from Basic to Business Edition is actually a great option to reset your contract term and lock in the $10/user/month pricing for 1 more year. G Suite Business with Team Drives and Unlimited Storage is giving our customers freedom from traditional Windows file shares and other non-integrated, non-cloud storage solutions.
Canadian and US customers paying in USD will not receive any regional or transition discounts either direct or through partners.
The good news is that our Interlockit.com customers currently on the monthly Flex plans have the additional option to switch to an annual plan before the April 2nd price increase and lock in today's Basic Edition for $50/user/year or Business Edition for $120/user/year for a full year.
Unlike Interlockit.com customers, those buying directly from Google on monthly Flex do not have the option to switch to an annual plan before the price increase and save as much as 62% for 1 year.
If you know of organizations buying G Suite from Google directly please refer them to us at Interlockit.com so we can also save them significant money for 1 more year!
How to save money and delay the G Suite price increase
Organizations currently purchasing G Suite Basic for $50 on an annual plan in USD are facing a 44% price increase effective April 2nd, 2019.
The new prices in U.S. Dollars (USD) and Canadian Dollars (CAD) are below:
G Suite Edition | USD (per user/month) | CAD (per user/month) |
Basic | $6 | $7.80 |
Business | $12 | $15.60 |
Enterprise | $25 | $34.00 |
Monday, November 19, 2018
Google Introduces Work Insights and the Investigation Tool
Have you ever wondered if your G Suite subscription is actually being put to good use?
Work Insights is a new tool to that lets you see how much impact G Suite is making on your organization. It does this by showing you data on which teams are using G Suite and which apps they use frequently, how they are using the apps to collaborate, how much time the teams are spending in meetings, and much more. Essentially, Work Insights gives you an overview of how G Suite enables your team members to work together.
Photo source: G Suite Updates Blog |
Photo source: G Suite Updates Blog |
Currently in beta, Work Insights is available to organizations subscribed to G Suite Enterprise or Enterprise for Education. G Suite admins who want to try it now can fill out the Beta Test Application form.
Are you aware of potential security risks within your G Suite domain?
Google understands every organization's need for simplified security management. The security center, which they introduced earlier this year, brings together security analytics, actionable insights, and best practice recommendations. Recently, they announced the general availability of the new investigation tool which integrates remediation to the prevention and detection features of the security center. G Suite admins can use the new investigation tool to identify suspicious device activity, find out if classified Google Drive documents have been shared to outsiders and hence cut access, remove emails that can compromise account security, and more.
Photo source: G Suite Updates Blog |
The investigation tool has a simple user interface. Admins can identify threats and take action with a few clicks--no need to analyze logs or run complex scripts.
The investigation tool is now available to G Suite Enterprise customers.
References
Gain deeper organizational insights and take action with new G Suite features [Web blog post]. (2018, September 18). Retrieved September 23, 2018, from https://gsuiteupdates.googleblog.com/2018/09/gain-deeper-organizational-insights-and.html
Sawers, P. (2018, September 18). G Suite’s new Work Insights tool reveals adoption and collaboration rates within your company [Web blog post]. Retrieved September 23, 2018, from https://venturebeat.com/2018/09/18/g-suites-new-work-insights-tool-reveals-adoption-rates-and-collaboration-within-your-company/
Wednesday, August 22, 2018
The power of cloud integration for business IT systems
Thankfully many business systems today operate in the cloud allowing users to, for example, pull emails from a customer relationship management (CRM) system (like Copper) and with a single click, dial a contact via RingCentral which logs the interaction for productivity reporting and follow ups. Since data now has the ability to flow freely between software, it doesn't make sense for it to live in individual stores any longer. Think of software integration like bridges in a city, allowing traffic to flow freely from one place to another.
To illustrate an example of cloud integration, we use Hubdoc to automatically push our monthly phone bill to Xero which codes it to the correct expense account. It attaches the pdf image of the invoice and also saves a copy to our Google Drive where we can take advantage of the world's best search engine to instantly find it again. Enabling auto-pay with our provider allows us to simply let Xero's automatic downloading of bank transactions find the matching payment and mark it as paid. There is zero traditional human data entry required, which in return allows us to use that time towards more important tasks like following up with our customers.