Chrome Enterprise Enhances Google Workspace Users’ Management and Productivity Capabilities
Chrome Enterprise
The browser has become the main point of access for corporate apps and data in today’s mixed work environments. For IT administrators responsible for maintaining and safeguarding this vital access point, this offers both possibilities and difficulties. This is especially more relevant for companies using Google Workspace to promote real-time communication and collaboration, as Workspace applications like Gmail and Google Docs operate entirely within the browser without the need for separate desktop clients.
To ensure that their users are productive, IT administrators must control the access point and select the ideal workspace. At the machine, user, and profile levels, Chrome Enterprise already provides several levels of management. We’ll talk about new profile management tools for IT teams and enhanced Workspace user productivity in this release.
Enhancing Workspace clients’ Chrome profiles and profile administration
In order to provide administrators with even more power and flexibility, Chrome Enterprise keeps improving its profile management features for Chrome users who are logged in. There are several advantages for administrators who choose to manage their fleet at the profile level.
- Customization and Fine-Grained Policy Controls: Configure Chrome preferences and rules according to particular user roles or groups in your company.
- Enhanced Security and Compliance: Make sure sensitive data is safeguarded even while using personal devices by enforcing security regulations at the profile level (BYOD).
- Perfect for Extended Workforce and Personal Devices: On privately owned or contracted devices, offer a controlled and safe browsing environment without jeopardizing user security or privacy.
- Allow users to keep separate work and personal profiles, which will increase productivity and enhance the user experience. This will allow for a clear separation of work and personal data.
Customers of Workspace may now access new profile listings and reporting with Google Cloud Identity to gain greater insight into Chrome user profiles within their company. Detailed reports about user profiles inside your business, such as browser version, policies that have been applied, extensions that have been installed, and more, are available in one unified view. Later this year, this feature will be made generally accessible.
For context-aware access, administrators can also take advantage of the new Device Trust Connectors with Okta, Ping, and Cisco Duo. When a user is signed in to Chrome, or when they are in a Chrome Profile, Chrome can share device signals with partners. This frees up administrators from having to maintain the device to create context-aware access controls for their expanded workforce. Customers of Workspace can limit access to Workspace and other SaaS applications and exchange signals by using Workspace context-aware access restrictions or Chrome Enterprise Premium.
It also introducing a new Chrome sign-in flow in the upcoming weeks that will provide business users greater transparency, enabling them to distinguish more easily between their personal and work Chrome profiles and making it easier for them to recognize that they are using a managed browser. Business users will now be able to see what kinds of data are accessible to their organization and how their device and profile are handled. Additionally, users have the option to transfer any already-existing bookmarks, extensions, or other browser data from their personal profile to their work profile or leave it alone.
Better navigation and tab experiences
Employee productivity is enhanced by enterprise browsers, and its team is always striving to make online browsing more user-friendly and productive.
Workspace users now have simple access to their calendar and virtual meetings by opening a new tab and seeing an overview of their daily Google Calendar in addition to the existing customization options for tab pages and the interaction with Google Drive. Keep an eye out as this functionality is still being rolled out!
By using site search shortcuts, you can search for a certain website using the address bar instead of going directly to the website’s URL. Admins can now add site shortcuts to your users’ accounts to quickly access the most important business websites. These can be customized for particular groups, like providing quick access to Salesforce for the whole sales staff. All managed users will be able to access this capability, even if they aren’t using Workspace, as it is currently being rolled out.
Lastly, it has updated tabs that are better for all users on all platforms:
- It added the ability to manually save and sync your tab groups in Chrome desktop so you could access them from a different computer last year. These days, your groups automatically sync and save on all of your devices, allowing you to effortlessly resume your browsing session on any device. On PC, Android, and iOS Chromebooks will soon have this feature.
- Additionally, Chrome is experimenting with making recommendations for pages to view again based on the tabs you have open on other devices. This can be especially useful if you wish to continue your internet browsing from a different device while commuting home after leaving the office. Through the Chrome New Tab page, Chrome will proactively recommend pages to revisit.
Start using Chrome Enterprise Core, its cloud management tool, to set and configure many of the features we’ve discussed today.
Chrome Enterprise pricing
Pricing for Chrome Enterprise usually varies based on the plan or subscription model that companies select. The main Chrome Enterprise pricing schemes are summarized as follows:
- Chrome Enterprise upgrade: The annual cost of this update is around $50 USD per device. It makes it simpler for businesses to manage their Chrome fleet by unlocking increased security features and advanced management capabilities for Chrome OS devices.
- Chrome Enterprise Plus: This is a more complete package that might include with tools for large-scale deployments, security features, and enhanced support. Pricing is typically tailored according to the size, quantity, and particular requirements of the organization’s devices.
- Perpetual Licenses: This model is less frequently publicized, however certain organizations may choose to offer perpetual licenses with a one-time charge structure.
It is advised to get in touch with Google sales or a Google Cloud partner for a tailored quote in order to find out the precise cost for your company’s requirements.
