When it comes to email hosting plans, you think of two main options. Google Workspace email hosting plans or just a basic email hosting plan. So ideally, your choice would depend on your needs.
Are you heavily dependent on Google’s services like Gmail, Sheets, Slides, Docs etc.? Is your work setup flexible, do you have employees who work outside the office? Then Google Workspace would be best for you.
On the other hand, if you are looking for a customized professional email setup, then you could go for the basic email hosting plans. If you are simply looking for a way to get an email address that matches your brand name, then this is the ideal plan for you.
Let’s Understand Our Email Hosting Options Better
Google Workspace Email Hosting
With this email hosting plan, you get access to all of the services that Google offers such as Gmail, Google Chat, Google Slides, Google Docs, Google Meet and everything else. What makes this email hosting plan attractive is the premium access to all of these services.
You can collaborate with your colleagues easily because everything is available on the cloud. You can edit your presentation slides on your phone while you are grocery shopping for home! The idea is that you can work with anyone, anywhere, from any device.
All you have to do is just log in.
Traditional Email Hosting
The major advantage of using a professional email hosting service is that it helps you out in your branding and marketing ventures. Having a professional email address, sending customized emails and of course having 24/7 expert support is great for your business.
With every email that you send to your customers, you are basically marketing your business with the custom email addresses and customized templates. This is just an added advantage, but a very beneficial one. You also get great storage space, automated email responders, and complete privacy protection.
Google Workspace vs. Traditional Email Hosting
The Pros of Google Workspace Email Hosting
Collaboration
If your employees have to collaborate with each other but are operating from different locations, then Google Workspace email hosting can help you a great deal. For example, if you have a team presentation that needs to be worked on by people who are working from different places, then you can simply adjust the access permissions and share the link.
Everyone that has been given the access to that file will be able to either view, comment or edit it.
Scalability options in Google Workspace
All your data is stored in the cloud when you use Google Workspace. You can scale up or down easily because of its cloud- based infrastructure. Since there are no hardware setups for Google Workspace email hosting services, it is much easier to scale because no hardware upgrades are required.
Flexibility
This is a very flexible email hosting service. This flexibility allows you to partner with third- party applications without much hassle. Meaning, you can use third- party applications to scale up. This is a very helpful feature if you are looking for specific functions that are only available with other applications that are outside Google’s zone.
Reliability and uptime benefits
Google has a reputation for being reliable. It has failover mechanisms in place to minimize downtime to the lowest possible numbers.
This is a key factor to consider if your business relies heavily on its online presence. With data centers spread across the globe, latency is also at the lowest ensuring a smooth and seamless experience for your customers.
Security with Google Workspace
When you are using Google Workspace all of your data (both transmitted and at rest) will be encrypted using strong encryption protocols. For example, the emails that are sent and received are encrypted with the help of Transport Layer Security (TLS), making sure that the communication is private and secure. All your data in the Drive is encrypted as well.
Google also uses Two- Factor Authentication (2FA) for an additional layer of security. Their advanced spam filtering and phishing protection make Google Workspace an ideal option for those who require stable and secure communications. Regular updates, compliance certifications and user education also make Google Workspace email hosting a very popular choice when it comes to security.
The Cons of Google Workspace Email Hosting
The Cost
As you may already know, Google Workspace is not a free service. This is an important factor to consider is you are a large organization with multiple users or a small business with a limited budget.
With the growth of your organization, you will need to increase all your resources which would include the scaling up of Google Workspace email hosting plan as well. If you do not plan your financial decisions well, this could be a costly disadvantage.
Data Privacy
Google collects some data for the purpose of personalized ads. This may be a concern for those users who are very concerned about how their data is used. Although the data of Google Workspace users is completely secure, some of you may be skeptical of it.
Learning Curve
For some users, the switch to a new interface could take a while to get used to. Learning to navigate through the features and understanding the layout may take some time. Even though most of the tools are user- friendly, for users to use the tool to its maximum potential, they will have to put in extra effort to learn it.
For example, collaboration tools like Google Docs, Sheets or Slides can take a while to get used to. Also, if you are switching to Google Workspace, the change in workflow could be overwhelming for your team. So, unless you plan the switch perfectly, the email hosting plan could easily disrupt your team’s productivity.
Limited Access When Offline
This is primarily a cloud- based platform which is intended for real- time online collaboration. Offline access to Google’s tools does exist, however, it has very limited functionality. It is also important to note that offline access is more limited on mobile devices.
For example, you can create and edit documents using Google Docs offline, but features like real-time collaboration with other users could be restricted. Additionally, there are a few other features that cannot be used when you are offline.
Limited Customization Options
Google Workspace offers a standardized platform for its users. This means that you will have very limited customization options. This is a disadvantage for those who want to have a customized platform for marketing and branding purposes.
You will also have limited control over your email server infrastructure because you are using Google’s server infrastructure. With other email hosting services, you will have complete control over your email server. If your organization has a highly specialized system, you may find it difficult to integrate it with Google Workspace. You will get APIs and integration options, but for some organizations this may not be enough.
The Pros of Traditional Email Hosting
Better Control
Unlike Google Workspace email hosting, traditional email hosting plans offer better control to the users. This is because the hosting provider can allow you to have more control over the server, and they set the limit of this control at different levels.
With more control over physical and virtual infrastructure you can scale your resources as you like, select hardware specifications that better suit your business needs and do a lot more that you cannot do with Google’s email hosting plan.
More customization options
Most email hosting providers allow you to customize your email setting as you please. This helps you to brand and market as you wish. You can have highly customized email retention policies, so that you can make the hosting plan as suitable to your company policies as possible.
Apart from this, you can also customize email authentication and filter options according to your needs. Security and access controls will also be under your control. For example, you can set custom firewall rules. There are a lot more customization options that you can get with traditional email hosting services. Why don’t you check out Veeble’s email hosting plans to get a better idea?
Higher levels of data privacy
If your organization has very strict data privacy rules then it is a good idea to go for traditional email hosting. Data privacy has been a controversial issue with Google, so it would make sense why some organizations would prefer to stay away from it. With traditional email hosting, you will be able to retain complete data ownership.
You can also have more control over where your data is stored physically. Being able to choose the physical location of your data storage could be an advantage for those organizations that have very specific requirements that Google Workspace email hosting may not be able to fulfill.
Easier scalability
Compared to Google Workspace email hosting, traditional email hosting plans offer more flexibility to scale up or down depending on your needs. This is because you have more control over your server and your resources.
You can grow your company and your email hosting plan will grow with you with no setbacks. With different levels of hosting plans, you can allocate your resources as you wish.
Backup and Recovery Options
Traditional email hosting offers you the choice of custom backup and recovery options. You can select the time and number of backups for your data. You have more control over backup and recovery as some providers offer different options for you to choose from.
Such levels of controls ensure that your email data is always accessible and can be recovered when you need it.
The Cons of Traditional Email Hosting
Limited Collaboration
Though not applicable to all email hosting services, traditional email hosting plans cannot offer the collaboration features that Google Workspace offers as they are not cloud- based. Due to this limitation, you will not be able to collaborate with your team as efficiently as you could with Google’s email hosting solution.
If your organization or your business model requires constant real- time collaboration and is heavily dependent on team work, then traditional email hosting may not be the right fit for you.
Data- center costs
When you are using a third- party hosting provider, you will have to cover the cost of renting data- center space. Some providers vary their costs depending on the server location. So there are chances that your preferred location crosses your budget.
Apart from the cost, you also have to be careful about the quality of service. Do your research and opt for providers who are committed to providing the best hosting services to their customers. A simple way to do this would be to try services from providers who offer a money- back guarantee or free trials.
Compatibility issues
If you need to use cloud- based services, then it is better to go for such solutions than going for other email hosting options. This is because there are chances that the email hosting service that you choose will not seamlessly integrate with tools like the ones provided by Google or other cloud providers.
So evaluate your needs carefully and then select the best email hosting plan for you.
Compliance Issues
Some businesses require meeting industry- specific or regulatory compliance requirements. It could be challenging to meet these requirements when you are using certain email hosting services.
The features and tools provided by Google Workspace email hosting does make it easier to meet these requirements. However, this depends on the requirements that you want to meet. Also, meeting compliance requirements ultimately falls in the hands of the organization.
Downtime Risk
If the provider you have selected does not offer high uptime guarantees, then it’s better to not go for it. Google operates a global network of highly redundant and well distributed data centers. This significantly reduces downtime.
Their architecture includes load balancing, redundant servers, and data replication across multiple locations to make sure that their clients have access to their email data at all times. Even when a failure occurs, there will be very minimal disruption. So unless your email hosting provider can keep up with all these features, you might face more downtime than with the cloud- based solution.
Summing Up
Google Workspace email hosting would be a good choice for you if you are heavily dependent on its cloud- based collaboration tools and services. It provides you with great collaboration features, scalability options, flexibility, reliability and uptime as well as good security. However, it does have certain disadvantages like data privacy issues and it has a learning curve, limited access when you are offline and limited customization options.
When it comes to traditional email hosting you get better control over your server, more customization options, higher levels of data privacy, easier scalability options and you will have more control over backup and recovery options. The limitations of traditional email hosting are that it could have limited collaboration features, you have to cover data- center costs, you may face compatibility issues and there could be significantly higher downtime risks.
Now that you know the pros and cons of Google Workspace email hosting and Traditional email hosting, you are much more prepared to select the right email hosting plan for your business.