Google Workspace vs Slack: The In-depth Comparison

Improve Business Communication in 2022: Google Workspace Vs Slack

The workplace evolution post-pandemic has escalated the use of productivity apps to adapt to the remote working environment. Tools for improved communication & coordination between team members have become a necessity to ensure seamless workflow.

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Can you imagine a workday without being able to communicate with your team in the virtual work environment?

How do you think is it possible to coordinate & collaborate on a project in the absence of productivity apps?

To resolve these queries several workplace communication tools are used by businesses today such as Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, Slack, etc. Whether your team has transitioned to a completely remote set up or is physically working from the office, these tools have a pivotal role in the business’s success. Google Workspace & Slack both have competitive features that support their popularity. Find out which collaboration tool is better in this article.

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It will provide you with a deep dive into both of these tools concerning their functioning, integrations, security & pricing. Finally, you will be able to make a smart pick out of the two for your business.

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Let’s get started!

How Do They Work?

Google Workspace & Slack have both won hearts in the marketplace. Customer reviews indicate that both the vendors are at par when it comes to the ease of conducting overall business. But just like no 2 fingers are the same, no 2 tools can be the same either.

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So let’s look at the working models of both of these tools that help teams communicate.

Google Workspace:

The major difference between Google Workspace (formerly known as G Suite) and Slack is the package offering that this tool offers. It is a suite of innovative & cloud-hosted tools that serve a range of purposes such as collaboration, communication, productivity & mobility. From SMEs to Fortune 500 companies Google Workspace is actively used to work better together.

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According to the recent 2022 market study, the global G Suite technology services market is expected to increase at a CAGR of 19.7% between 2022 & 2032, from USD 449 million in 2022 to USD 2723 million in 2032.

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Businesses & enterprises use Google workspace because of the wide array of in-suite applications that it offers such as:

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1. Gmail for business that allows setting up a customized G Suite email address with your domain name for better brand reputation and security.

2. Google Drive offers free cloud storage of 30GB per user enabling users to store & access files online.

3. Google Meet is an immensely popular app that connects teams virtually over voice and video calls by sharing a meeting ID & enabling group conversations.

4. Google Calendar is the go-to virtual calendar that helps keep track of meetings, reminders, and tasks all in one consolidated place.

5. Google Chat is unlike any other chat messengers except that it has advanced functionalities like team chat & collaboration via text, building collaborative chat rooms, sharing documents, delivering presentations & establishing web conferences.

6. Google Docs is an online word processor used to create & collaborate on online documents just like Microsoft Word. But the major difference between the two is Google docs can be accessed from any number of devices without any limitation & also offers real-time secure sharing, enabling teams to work on a doc editing collectively.

7. Google Sheets is a spreadsheet program used to create & edit spreadsheets like Microsoft excel. However, the major perks of using the former over the latter are: multiple people can work collaboratively on a google sheet, all collaborators can see the changes in real-time & every change is saved automatically.

8. Google Slides is a presentation program that is an online-only tool & thus stands out from Microsoft Powerpoint which is available for offline download. Also, Google slides have the link-sharing ability to be able to work together with other project mates.

9. Google Keep is a note-taking service that makes it possible to share your notes with your friends or family easily.

10. Google Sites assists in creating & publishing websites hassle-free.

11. Google Forms is useful in creating online forms, surveys, quizzes, etc with multiple questions & helps analyze results in real-time.

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Slack:

In a workplace culture where coming to the office for work was mandatory & habituated, working from home seemed like an improbable possibility. But the pandemic made it possible & there emerged an ever-increasing demand for communication tools like Slack.

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2022 Statistics on Slack indicate that the number of slack users daily exceeds 10 million & 43% of Fortune 100 businesses pay to use it.

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Slack is a single-place communication platform for messaging, tools & files with enriched functionalities. Teams communicate better with the features of conducting video calls, file sharing & mentioning each other. This tool also has channel features that permit the users to create channels & add other users.

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Communication in these channels is specific topic-oriented, so one can join & leave them as required. Thus, members of the channel can communicate effectively on a specific project or task even in a remote work environment.

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Integrations

Now that we know the functionalities of both of these tools, let’s understand their integrations. Integrations are the various applications that these tools support & their inter-connectivity. Let’s take a glance at the Google Workspace & Slack integrations.

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Google Workspace:

Just like workplace integration is vital for effective business operations, the integration of apps in Google Workspace is equally significant. Most of the apps in Google workspace can be integrated with other apps in the G Suite such as:

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1. Google Meet, Google Chat & Google Rooms have integration with Gmail, Google Calendar & other apps

2. Google Keep notes can be integrated into Google Docs

3. Google Calendar, Google Meet & Google Drive can all work in Google chat providing options for video calls & file sharing

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G Suite marketplace integration can foster business productivity as employees can communicate better, there is improved coordination, every team member has access to the project progress, teammates with links can edit the docs, and offers 24*7 accessibility on the go from any device, etc.

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Slack:

If you are looking to centralize all your notifications into a sole searchable place, Slack integrations could be your solution. It is this integration that transitions Slack from a normal online instant messaging & collaboration platform to a centralized centre for notifications from sales to tech support to social media & a lot more. Your team can view everything in one unified place giving them the benefit to discuss & take action on each notification.

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Slack integration helps to add more value to your tools with its wide array of 2400 applications that it effectively supports. However, if you are a free plan user, it allows you to integrate only 10 apps, some of which include:

1. Polly
2. Zoho Recruit
3. Asana
4. Zoom
5. Dropbox
6. Loom
7. Dash
8. AWS Chatbot
9. Google Drive
10. OneDrive

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Now that we are well-versed with the working model of both these tools, it's time to move to the next critical factor: security.

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Security

While business & enterprise are looking for better productivity tools, let’s not forget the possible vulnerabilities of technological advancements. With the increased risk of data threats in terms of hacking, malware & other breaches, a high level of security to keep your data secure is an absolute necessity.

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Ensuring the security features of Google Workspace & Slack plays a pre-eminent role in arriving at a conclusion of which tool to opt for. Let’s have a look at the security architecture of both of these tools.

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Google Workspace:

Google Workspace is highly secure with all of its data being end-to-end encrypted & having two-factor authentication enabled. Data is encrypted whether it is on a disk, stored on backup media, moving over the World Wide Web, or travelling between data centres.

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With an extensive range of confidential data available on your Google workspace, it is increasingly important to ensure its confidentiality. The security & privacy policy of Google workspace is very stringent. The entire Google workspace system is saved on hardware & a self-owned software-defined network is used by the company for better security & faster speed. The use of fiber & soft fiber cables builds a connection between data centres globally thus every email is secured when travelling from the recipient to the sender.

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Slack:

According to 2022 Slack statistics, “87% of Slack users say it improves communication & organization in business.” To ensure an increasing usage & continuous trust of the users, the security of Slack is very important.

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Slack encrypts data at every stage be it at rest or en route using various data protection tools such as Slack Enterprise Key Management (Slack EKM), audit logs & integrations with top data loss prevention (DLP) providers. Also, to ensure a better & safe experience additional features such as single sign-on & domain claiming are put to use.

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We have now reached the pinnacle in the list of factors affecting your choice of the tool between Google Workspace & Slack. Pricing is the final & indispensable aspect to be considered in your decision-making process.

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Pricing

“Pricing is all about customer value. Price is what you pay. Value is what you get” - Warren Buffett

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Price plays a crucial role in deciding which tool to use for business productivity. Let’s look at the pricing model of both of these tools.

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Google Workspace:

Google workspace is not available free of cost. It has a 14-day free trial on all plans for new users but post it G Suite has 3 different plans each of which has distinct offerings:

1. The basic plan starts at $6 per user per month that includes 30 GB of drive storage & video calls for 100 participants. 

2. The standard business plan at $12 per user monthly offers 2 TB of storage & video calls for 150 participants with recording functionality. 

3. The business plus plan is priced at $18 monthly for individual users with 5 TB of storage, video calls for 250 participants, upgraded security & attendance tracking feature.

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Slack:

Slack is actively used by the big bulls in the industry like Airbnb, Spotify, Uber, Netflix, etc. Some use the free version while others use the paid plans. Let’s have a look at both

1. The free Slack version offers limited access to the recent 10,000 messages, 10 integrations with other apps & 1:1 voice & video calls with teams.

2. The Pro plan costs $6.67 per user per month with all the benefits of the free plan plus:

1. Complete message history of your organization
2. Unlimited integrations
3. Group voice & video calls with up to 15 teammates
4. Building secure collaboration with external companies & guests

3. The Business+ plan of $12.5 per user monthly is a combination of the free & pro plan along with add-on features:

1. Advanced sign-in option
2. 24*7 assistance & support with 99.9% guaranteed uptime & 4 hours of response time
3. Superior identity management with SAML-based SSO & real-time Active Directory sync

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Which one should you use?

With over 6,00,000 companies using Slack globally & more than 5 million businesses using G Suite, the decision of choosing the right tool for your team’s productivity can be a real dilemma.

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If you look at Slack & Google Workspace both offer search options but the former has advanced search options. It allows you to search within a specific time period excluding certain channels from your search if needed. Also, if you forget the name of a document & want to check it, Slack lets you search based on the words mentioned in the document.

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Google Workspace also offers advanced search options but only within the business & enterprise packages. With this upgrade Google Workspace allows you to search your entire company’s data from Google Drive, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Gmail & other Google apps.

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Both these tools have a phenomenal demand, advanced features, competitive pricing & considerable market share. Depending on what is the purpose you are looking to fulfill, make your choice.

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For example: if you are a big company having some of your employees working remotely & you are looking for effortless coordination, Google Workspace could be your suitable pick. On the other hand, Slack can be more effective to use when your employees are working close by either in the same office building or down the other street, etc.

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Wrapping Up

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Now that we have discussed the working pattern, integrations, security & pricing for both Google Workspace & Slack choosing the right, affordable & accessible tool for your company should get a little easier. Improve your team communication with the most appropriate productivity tool.