Looking for details on older releases? Here is a summary of Google Workspace updates.
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Google announced the retirement of the Currents service, highlighting the beginning of 2023 as the ramp-down for Currents. Now that the Migration Opt-in setting is available in the Google Admin console, administrators have until December 31st, 2022, to Opt-in for migrating Currents data to Spaces. Choosing to Opt-in will migrate some, but not all, Currents data.
This change is one of many impacting Google Workspace for Education into the new year. Focusing on larger matters makes it easy to have missed this announcement entirely.
Higher Education experts from CDW Amplified Education have covered you with a complimentary resource to help you make the best decisions for your institution.
Timeline
Will this impact my institution?
What can I do?
Recommendations
Google Resources
Timeline
- Opt-in through 12/31/2022
- Migration date communicated Jan 2023
- Migrations start Q1 2023 complete by June 2023
Will this impact my institution?
A Google Workspace Administrator can use the following methods to determine if your institution has data in Google Currents.
- Identify if the Currents service status is set to ON for Organizational Units, Sub-Organizational Units, or Groups.
- Use the Google Admin Communities Report to check if your domain has Currents Communities Data.
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Use the Audit and Investigation tool on Currents log events to determine if there has been activity in the past 6 months.
Note: There isn’t a method to determine if there has been Currents activity before the 6 month time period.
Meaning individual Currents account data created or interacted with prior to the available reporting period may exist.
If all of the methods above indicate that the Currents service isn’t in use, has never been used, and you are confident that no Google Currents data exists for your domain, then this may not impact your school. We advise Caution when making this determination.
What can I do?
Carefully review the Currents to Spaces feature migration support article. In it, Google specifies the Currents data will migrate and what data will be excluded.
Watch the Future of Google Currents and Migration to Spaces webinar for a comprehensive walkthrough of the update.
Key points
Data that falls under the following categories will not be migrated:
- Posts and data created prior to July 2020
- Former Google+ posts
- Posts and data outside of established Google Chat data retention policy
Recommendations
- Decide if migration applies to your Google Workspace Environment
- Determine if there is data in your environment
- Choose to Opt-in as appropriate for your institution
- Plan for change
- Determine what/if any end user actions (takeout) will be available
- Publish support resources for end users
- Communicate with Help/Support desk
- Take additional steps as necessary
Google Resources
Webinar
Future of Google Currents and Migration to Spaces hosted by Google with a full timeline breakdown.
Support Articles
- Currents migration for administrators
- Currents to Spaces feature migration
- Prepare Currents for Spaces migration
Google Workspace Updates
The future of Currents and the next generation of collaboration in Spaces
Currents is listed as a core service under the Services Summary covered by the Google Workspace for Education. Institutions had the choice to leverage Currents as a tool for administrative and/or teaching and learning purposes.
In August 2022, Google started consolidating Gmail log exports from BiqQuery into the same export used for all other Admin logs. see unified-experience-for-workspace-logs-in-bigquery
This change will require changes for customers that have set up GCP billing for their logs export project. Customers should turn off the separate Gmail log export to avoid double billing and additional costs. For those not previously exporting Gmail logs, understand that your Admin log export BigQuery project will begin billing higher now that Gmail logs are included. For those using Sandbox mode, note that your exports are stopping, and you will need to enable billing to continue exporting your logs.
DataStudio dashboards created for Gmail logs will need to be updated to point to the new data location. See Migrate Gmail logs in BigQuery to Workspace logs in BigQuery. This article explains the next steps to avoid double billing, how to consolidate old Gmail project exports prior to the change into the main export project, and other technical details.
If you require support in making these changes, please contact our Support team for assistance in making these adjustments.
Example of email customer gets from Google:
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To streamline BigQuery tasks, and to let you get all your BigQuery data in one place, we’re merging logs in BigQuery with Google Workspace logs in BigQuery. Dear Administrator, We are writing to let you know that we have merged the export of Gmail logs to BigQuery with other Google Workspace applications. Our records show that you have both Gmail and Google Workspace logs enabled for export to BigQuery. If you have custom queries and views in your Gmail logs, transfer them to Google Workspace logs within six months after receiving this message so you don’t lose access to those custom queries and views. What does this mean for my organization?Merging Gmail logs with the rest of Google Workspace will provide the following benefits:
It also means that six months after receiving this message, you will no longer be able to export Gmail logs to BigQuery from Gmail settings. Therefore, you will need to take the steps outlined below to ensure your custom queries and scripts run successfully. What do I need to do?To keep your Gmail BigQuery data available, migrate your views, queries, and scripts to Google Workspace logs and reports in BigQuery by performing the following steps:
For additional information, refer to the full guide on migration of your Gmail Logs export projects into unified Google Workspace logs. Note: Your Gmail data will be exported twice: to Gmail-only and to Google Workspace BigQuery projects. This dual write period will last until you turn off Gmail logs export to Gmail-only BigQuery project. Until then you will be charged according to On-demand analysis pricing. We’re here to helpIf you have questions, need assistance, or need to explore reimbursement opportunities and eligibility, please contact Google Workspace support. When you submit your support case, reference issue number {238969322}. Thanks for choosing Google Workspace. — The Google Workspace Team |
Presented by:
Cat Weers, Associate Manager, Onboarding and Support
At the end of each quarter, we hold a webinar to review the latest changes to Workspace paid editions. Thank you to all of our customers who attended the webinar. If you weren't able to attend, we've included resources from the webinar, below, including the full recording so you can review them on your own.
Included in each webinar
- Description of each change
- Impact of each change
- Any actions customers must take related to each change
- Paid versions that are impacted by each change
- Webinar resources: The full webinar recording and slide deck used are available via the links below. The slide deck also includes many links to additional Google articles and CDW Amplified for Education resources.
New features we highlighted in the July webinar
- Trust rules for Google Drive - Open Beta
- Drive Labels and APIs
- Anonymous Polls in Google Meet
- Delegated Access in Connected Sheets
- De-reverberation in Google Meet
- Sync your Classroom rosters with your Student Information System - Q3 Open Beta
- Enhance education with add-ons - Coming soon
- Review and share what was discussed in class with class transcripts
- Connect with more people in your school community with live stream
- Set up SSO profiles for multiple third-party identity providers
- Delegated Virus Total privilege in Alert Center
- Improved interface for sharing work location in Google Calendar
- Space managers can delete messages in Google Chat
- AppSheet Enterprise Standard and Enterprise Plus available as add-ons
- Export log data to BigQuery in near-real time
- Google for Education transformation reports available worldwide, at no cost
- Copy client-side encrypted Google Docs, Sheets, and Slides files
- New beta for data loss prevention helps protect sensitive data when users upload files to external Google Forms
- Use context-aware access to help protect Admin console access
- Additional one-click recommended actions in the Alert Center
- Using document popularity in Cloud Search rankings
- Improved Admin experience for moving folders from My Drive to shared drives
- Set up host controls and assign co-hosts ahead of meetings in Google Calendar
- Create dynamic groups by querying custom user attributes
Webinar Resources July 2022
Storage limits history
In February of 2021, Google announced significant changes coming to unlimited cloud storage for Google Workspace. The unlimited cloud storage for education organizations is being phased out. Starting in July 2022, schools will be given 100TB of combined Drive, Gmail, and Photos storage for free. After you’ve reached the max storage allocation per domain (100TB), you will need to curb your cloud storage usage or procure a paid Google Workspace edition.
This article contains resources to help you navigate the changes to storage. As we learn and develop best practices, this page will be updated. Consider bookmarking this article as it is the best way you can stay in step with new developments.
Timeline
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February 2021 |
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April 2022 |
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July 2022 |
Related Materials
| General | K-12 | Higher Ed |
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We're here to help
Presented by:
Cat Weers, Associate Manager, Onboarding and Support
At the end of each quarter, we hold a webinar to review the latest changes to Workspace paid editions. Thank you to all of our customers who attended the webinar. If you weren't able to attend, we've included resources from the webinar, below, including the full recording so you can review them on your own.
Included in each webinar
- Description of each change
- Impact of each change
- Any actions customers must take related to each change
- Paid versions that are impacted by each change
- Webinar resources: The full webinar recording and slide deck used are available via the links below. The slide deck also includes many links to additional Google articles and CDW Amplified for Education resources.
New features we highlighted in the March webinar
- Improved Audit Logs in the Investigation tool
- Surface post-delivery actions in the Investigation Tool from delegated users
- Live Translated Captions available
- Client-side encryption for stronger data security and privacy
- Use Context-aware access to help protect Admin console access
- Practice Sets in Google Classroom
- Google Workspace migrate - out of beta
- Meet attendance reports available for 2 or more participants
- Expanded access for noise cancellation in Google Meet
- Use Companion mode in meet
- Changes to storage policy timeline
- Originality reports now work with slides
- Drive Labels & Data Protection - out of beta
- Searching in Drive gets better with Chips
- More detectors to use in DLP Rules
- View bandwidth for users
- Admin console updates
- Use Cloud Search to find people
- What's new? link in the Admin console
Webinar Resources March 2022
Presented by:
Cat Weers, Associate Manager, Onboarding and Support
At the end of each quarter, we hold a webinar to review the latest changes to Workspace paid editions. Thank you to all of our customers who attended the webinar. If you weren't able to attend, we've included resources from the webinar, below, including the full recording so you can review them on your own.
Included in each webinar
- Description of each change
- Impact of each change
- Any actions customers must take related to each change
- Paid versions that are impacted by each change
- Webinar resources: The full webinar recording and slide deck used are available via the links below. The slide deck also includes many links to additional Google articles and CDW Amplified for Education resources.
New features we highlighted in the March webinar
- Improved Audit Logs in the Investigation tool
- Surface post-delivery actions in the Investigation Tool from delegated users
- Live Translated Captions available
- Client-side encryption for stronger data security and privacy
- Use Context-aware access to help protect Admin console access
- Practice Sets in Google Classroom
- Google Workspace migrate - out of beta
- Meet attendance reports available for 2 or more participants
- Expanded access for noise cancellation in Google Meet
- Use Companion mode in meet
- Changes to storage policy timeline
- Originality reports now work with slides
- Drive Labels & Data Protection - out of beta
- Searching in Drive gets better with Chips
- More detectors to use in DLP Rules
- View bandwidth for users
- Admin console updates
- Use Cloud Search to find people
- What's new? link in the Admin console
Webinar Resources March 2022
The best way to reach support is to enter a support ticket through the Help Center. Here's the direct Submit a ticket link, which is available at the top of every Help Center page. You can also connect with our support team by emailing support@amplifiedit.cdw.com.
If you want to obtain a support contract or have questions, reach out to a Google Customer Support Specialist.
Learn more about the various ways we can help your team.
| Document Version | Date | Description of Change |
| 1.0 | 7/31/2024 | Updated email address |