Google Workspace Business

Software add-on or extensionNo

Cloud deployment modelPublic cloud

Service constraintsPlease refer to our Service Definition document and Supplier Terms for the applicable service.

System requirements

• A modern web browser
• Please refer to https://gsuite.google.com for more information on technical requirements

Email or online ticketing supportEmail or online ticketing

Support response timesFor Support requests submitted online, response times are based priority:
P1 within one hour (24 x 7) and P2, P3, and P4 within 1 business day.Premium Support is available at an additional cost, which includes a 15 minute intial response target.Priorities defined: https://support.google.com/a/answer/1047213

Technical Support Services Guidelines: https://gsuite.google.com/terms/tssg.html

*NOTE: Response times may vary for G Suite for Education customers
**NOTE: Phone support is not available with the free edition of G Suite or Cloud Identity.
***New Support packages will be launched in Q4 2020 / Q1 2021. Follow updates: https://cloud.google.com/support

User can manage status and priority of support ticketsNo

Phone supportYes

Phone support availability24 hours, 7 days a week

Web chat supportWeb chat

Web chat support availability24 hours, 7 days a week

Web chat support accessibility standardWCAG 2.1 AAA

Web chat accessibility testingIt is in our pipeline to test and deliver our products and services to become more accessible for assistive technology users

Onsite supportNo

Support levelsG Suite customers are eligible for Basic/Free support at no additional cost. Premium Support is available at an additional cost. Premium Support includes improved target response times and Technical Account Manager support services.

Support services are described in more detail here: https://gsuite.google.com/terms/tssg.html.

**New Support packages will be launched in Q4 2020 / Q1 2021. Check here for updates: https://cloud.google.com/support

Support available to third partiesNo

Getting started”Google provides a business transformation framework based on research in accredited universities. An online Getting Started learning path is described at https://gsuite.google.com/setup/
We also povide G suite training which is a plug-in to your Chrome and describes step-by step functionalities and processes.
The G suite Learning Center https://gsuite.google.com/learning-center/ provides numerous documentation, guides, tips, customer examples, and training resources”

Service documentationYes

Documentation formats

• HTML
• PDF
• Other

Other documentation formatsContextual training videos

End-of-contract data extraction”We provide tools to our customers to export their data. More information can be found here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/100458?hl=en#all”

End-of-contract process”For information on offboarding, please refer to:
https://support.google.com/a/answer/1257646#direct_step2_cancel_subscriptions”

Web browser interfaceYes

Supported browsers

• Internet Explorer 7
• Internet Explorer 8
• Internet Explorer 9
• Internet Explorer 10
• Internet Explorer 11
• Microsoft Edge
• Firefox
• Chrome
• Safari 9+
• Opera

Application to installYes

Compatible operating systems

• Android
• IOS
• MacOS
• Windows

Designed for use on mobile devicesYes

Differences between the mobile and desktop serviceWe’ve written native applications for Android and iOS which are designed with those user interface frameworks in mind

Service interfaceYes

Description of service interfaceWith the Admin Console you can
Easily add users, manage devices, configure security and settings so your data stays safe.
Use integrated Cloud Identity features to manage users and set up security options. Protect your organization with security analytics and best practice recommendations within the security center.
Distribute apps to employees and keep data secure on employee’s iOS and Android devices. Use mobile management to distribute apps and get employees up and running quickly, check usage, manage security settings, and lock or wipe devices remotely.
Limit the geographical location of your covered G Suite data at rest.

Accessibility standardsNone or don’t know

Description of accessibilityGoogle’s conformance to WCAG 2.0 AAA guidelines is documented in Google’s VPAT reports online here: https://support.google.com/a/answer/2821355?hl=en#h4_vpats

Accessibility testingIt is in our pipeline to test and deliver our products and services to become more accessible for assistive technology users

APIYes

What users can and can’t do using the APIThe scope of capabilities exposed via API to GSuite/Cloud Identity/Drive/Cloud Search Platform users is very broad and encompasses most major use cases. API’s are can be found here: https://developers.google.com/

API documentationYes

API documentation formats

• HTML
• PDF

API sandbox or test environmentYes

Customisation availableYes

Description of customisation”Google Apps Script is a JavaScript cloud scripting language that provides easy ways to automate tasks across Google products.
With Apps Script, you can create Add-ons for Google Docs, Macros, menus, and custom functions as well as managing responses for Google Forms”

Independence of resourcesG Suite provides scalable and elastic cloud services.

Service usage metricsYes

Metrics types”- Highlights: Key metrics and trends including app usage, users status, file visibility, and security.
– Security: Assess overall exposure to data breach. Discover which users not using 2-step verification, installing external apps, or sharing documents indiscriminately.
– Apps Usage Activity: See how your organization uses G Suite over a specific period by examining email activity, number of spreadsheets created, number of files shared, and more.
– Account Activity: Access all data from Security, Apps Usage Activity, and Highlights pages in a single master report.
– Audits: View logs of various activity, including admin, mobile activity, and more.
More: https://support.google.com/a/topic/29163?hl=en&ref_topic=4490889″

Reporting types

• API access
• Real-time dashboards
• Regular reports
• Reports on request

Supplier typeNot a reseller

Staff security clearanceOther security clearance

Government security clearanceNone

Knowledge of data storage and processing locationsYes

Data storage and processing locations

• United Kingdom
• European Economic Area (EEA)
• EU-US Privacy Shield agreement locations

User control over data storage and processing locationsNo

Datacentre security standardsComplies with a recognised standard (for example CSA CCM version 3.0)

Penetration testing frequencyAt least every 6 months

Penetration testing approachIn-house

Protecting data at rest

• Physical access control, complying with CSA CCM v3.0
• Physical access control, complying with SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402
• Encryption of all physical media
• Scale, obfuscating techniques, or data storage sharding
• Other

Other data at rest protection approach”Data belonging to G Suite customers is stored at rest in two types of systems: disks and backup media.

Disks are used to write and retrieve data in multiple replicated copies. (For more information on this replication of data, please see the G Suite Security Whitepaper.) Google also stores data on offline backup media to help ensure recovery from any catastrophic error or natural disaster at one of our data centers.

Data stored at rest is encrypted on both disks and backup media, but for each system we use a distinct approach for encryption to mitigate the corresponding security risks.”

Data sanitisation processYes

Data sanitisation typeExplicit overwriting of storage before reallocation

Equipment disposal approachComplying with a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v.30, CAS (Sanitisation) or ISO/IEC 27001

Data export approach”Please refer to
https://support.google.com/accounts/answer/3024190?hl=en”

Data export formats

• CSV
• ODF
• Other

Other data export formats

• DOCX
• XLSX
• PPTX
• PDF

Data import formats

• CSV
• ODF
• Other

Other data import formats

• DOCX
• XLSX
• PPTX
• PDF

Data protection between buyer and supplier networksTLS (version 1.2 or above)

Data protection within supplier networkTLS (version 1.2 or above)

Guaranteed availabilityDuring the Term of the applicable G Suite Agreement (or prior versions of the agreement governing the use of G Suite) (the “Agreement”), the (i) G Suite Covered Services web interface will be operational and available to Customer at least 99.9% of the time in any calendar month; and (ii) Google Voice will be operational within 2 business days of Customer’s acceptance of the Voice Service Specific Terms via the Admin Console (the “G Suite SLA”). If Google does not meet the G Suite SLA, and if Customer meets its obligations under this G Suite SLA, Customer will be eligible to receive the Service Credits described below. This G Suite SLA states Customer’s sole and exclusive remedy for any failure by Google to meet the G Suite SLA.

Approach to resilienceAll data is redundantly stored across a minimum of 3 data centers, and all services are designed to leverage the redundant data center infrastructure powering Google services.

Outage reportingPlease refer to the link below
https://www.google.com/appsstatus#hl=en-GB&v=status

User authentication neededYes

User authentication

• 2-factor authentication
• Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
• Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
• Dedicated link (for example VPN)
• Username or password
• Other

Other user authentication”A built-in Password Monitor is visible to the end user upon password
creation and to the System Administrators of the tenant whom can decide to force a password change on any user that is later detected to have a password that is weak. Google’s native authentication has
protections in place that would detect a brute force attack and challenge the user to solve a Captcha and would auto lock the account if suspicious activity is detected. The tenant’s System Administrators can
reset that account for the end user.”

Access restrictions in management interfaces and support channels”G Suite provides administrative features made available to Customer within the Admin Console for the management of Google-hosted accounts, mobile devices, and application within the Customer’s domain. Advanced security and control features may be subject to an additional charge

Support services are only provided to authorized customer administrators whose identities have been verified in several ways. Googler access is monitored and audited by our dedicated security, privacy, and internal audit teams.

https://cloud.google.com/iam/
https://cloud.google.com/security/overview/whitepaper#administrative_access
https://cloud.google.com/files/Google-Cloud-CSA-CAIQ-January2017-CSA-CAIQ-v3.0.1.pdf”

Access restriction testing frequencyLess than once a year

Management access authentication

• 2-factor authentication
• Public key authentication (including by TLS client certificate)
• Identity federation with existing provider (for example Google Apps)
• Dedicated link (for example VPN)
• Username or password
• Other

Description of management access authenticationGoogle’s native authentication requires a minimum 8 character complex password. Tenants can set the
maximum or increase the minimum. A Password Monitor is visible to the end user upon password
creation and to the System Administrators of the tenant. Google’s native authentication has
protections in place that would detect a brute force attack and challenge the user if suspicious activity is detected. System Administrators can reset that account for the end user.
Google provides the capability for domain administrators to enforce Google’s 2-step verification. The 2nd
factor could be a code generated via several supported mechanisms.

Access to user activity audit informationUsers have access to real-time audit information

How long user audit data is stored forUser-defined

Access to supplier activity audit informationUsers receive audit information on a regular basis

How long supplier audit data is stored forAt least 12 months

How long system logs are stored forUser-defined

ISO/IEC 27001 certificationYes

Who accredited the ISO/IEC 27001EY CertifyPoint

ISO/IEC 27001 accreditation date17/04/2020

What the ISO/IEC 27001 doesn’t coverSee certificate for full list of products covered, anything not listed is not covered. See the certificate link: https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/gcp_iso27001_spring_2020.pdf

ISO 28000:2007 certificationNo

CSA STAR certificationYes

CSA STAR accreditation date28/05/2020

CSA STAR certification levelLevel 2: CSA STAR Attestation

What the CSA STAR doesn’t coverThe supported list of services is available at https://cloud.google.com/security/compliance/csa-star/

PCI certificationYes

Who accredited the PCI DSS certificationGoogle Cloud’s QSA is Coalfire.

PCI DSS accreditation dateMay 2020. Customer can request AoC under NDA.

What the PCI DSS doesn’t coverThe supported list of services is available at https://cloud.google.com/security/compliance/pci-dss/

Other security certificationsYes

Any other security certificationsFull list available at https://cloud.google.com/security/compliance/#/

Named board-level person responsible for service securityYes

Security governance certifiedYes

Security governance standards

• CSA CCM version 3.0
• ISO/IEC 27001

Information security policies and processes”Google’s cloud services are designed to deliver better security than many traditional on-premises solutions. Google makes security, and protection of data it’s primary design criteria, which is the cornerstone of it’s overall security governance and compliance audits. Google’s third party audit approach is designed to be comprehensive to provide assurances of Google’s information security capabilities. Customers may use these third party audits to assess how Google’s products can meet their compliance and data-processing needs.
https://cloud.google.com/security/overview/whitepaper
https://cloud.google.com/security/compliance”

Configuration and change management standardConforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402

Configuration and change management approachIn Google production environments, software updates are manually vetted to ensure the stability of the system. Changes are then tested and cautiously rolled out to systems. The details vary somewhat depending on the service being considered, but all development work is separated from the operation systems, testing occurs in a multi-staged fashion in both environments and in dedicated test settings. We can share, under NDA, the SOC2 audit report (based on standards from the International Auditing and Assurance Standards Board), which describes the change management process. Additionally, changes to code go through a process of code review involving additional engineer(s).

Vulnerability management typeConforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402

Vulnerability management approach”Google administrates a vulnerability management process that actively scans for security threats using a combination of commercially available and purpose-built in-house tools, intensive-automated and manual penetration efforts, quality assurance processes, software security reviews and external audits. The vulnerability management team is responsible for tracking and following up on vulnerabilities. Once a vulnerability requiring remediation has been identified, it is logged, prioritized according to severity, and assigned an owner. The vulnerability management team tracks and follows up frequently until remediated. Google also maintains relationships with members of the security research community to track issues in Google services and open-source tools.

https://cloud.google.com/security/overview/whitepaper#vulnerability_management”

Protective monitoring typeConforms to a recognised standard, for example CSA CCM v3.0 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402

Protective monitoring approach”At many points across our global network, internal traffic is inspected for suspicious behavior, such as the presence of traffic that might indicate botnet connections. This analysis is performed using a combination of open-source and commercial tools for traffic capture and parsing. A proprietary correlation system built on top of Google technology also supports this analysis. Network analysis is supplemented by examining system logs to identify unusual behavior, such as attempted access of customer data. Google security engineers place standing search alerts on public data repositories to look for security incidents that might affect the company’s infrastructure.

https://cloud.google.com/security/overview/whitepaper#monitoring”

Incident management typeConforms to a recognised standard, for example, CSA CCM v3.0 or ISO/IEC 27035:2011 or SSAE-16 / ISAE 3402

Incident management approach”We have a rigorous incident management process for security events that may affect the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of systems or data. This process specifies courses of action, procedures for notification, escalation, mitigation, and documentation. Google’s security incident management program is structured around the NIST guidance on handling incidents (NIST SP 800–61). Key staff are trained in forensics and handling evidence in preparation for an event, including the use of third-party and proprietary tools. Testing of incident response plans is performed for key areas, such as systems that store sensitive customer information.

https://cloud.google.com/security/overview/whitepaper#incident_management”

Approach to secure software development best practiceIndependent review of processes (for example CESG CPA Build Standard, ISO/IEC 27034, ISO/IEC 27001 or CSA CCM v3.0)

Connection to public sector networksNo

Price $6/ user

Discount for educational organisationsNo

Free trial availableNo