Google Cloud's G Suite Could be the Easiest Software for Your Users to Learn.

Google's G Suite offers several advantages as a professional software suite. Among these are ease of access, cloud computing, uniformity across platforms, and more. One advantage not to overlook is ease of use.   As an IT professional you are likely familiar with the time and effort it takes to teach end users a new software platform.  Google's G Suite is one of the easiest software suites for your end users to learn how to user and here is why.

Why Google's G Suite Is The Easiest Productivity Software For Your Users To Learn

1. Familiarity: Google’s software has become widely used and accepted by end users. Nearly everyone has a Gmail account and many users have been exposed to Google’s other applications on their home computers and the Android smartphone platform. Even if a user hasn’t used many of Google’s Apps just being exposed to them gives a baseline of familiarity and quickens the learning process. Also some of your end users may already be using G Suite apps such as docs which means they may require very little general use training and can focus on entirely new apps and business specific concepts.

2. Ease Of Access: another point in favor of G Suite is how easy it is to access. A key issue many end users encounter is that their business software is only accessible on one specific platform and this may not be their preferred choice. Some users prefer a specific OS (Windows, Mac, Linux, and so on) and others prefer a specific hardware platform such as laptop, desktop, or tablet. G Suite is cloud based and cross platform so it can be accessed from a user’s prefered hardware and software configuration. A familiar environment helps speed up the learning process.

    

Preparing Your Users for a G Suite Migration

Even though G Suite is easy to use your end users may still be resistant to change as they are already comfortable with their current workflow. To ease the process keep the following three steps in mind.

1. Let Them Know: when implementing a new software suite let users know this is occurring early and often. Make use official company means of communication such as email, the company intranet, posters, flyers, and company chat software such as Lync or Skype. Within the last month of the transition announce when training will occur. Also consider having the changeover announcement made by a high ranking person in the company. This helps assure people read their communication instead of just deleting it as ‘just another email’.

2. Training: depending on your current application suite end users could have years of experience working in this environment so a change may not be especially welcome. Hesitation is to be expected and should be worked with. As noted above many end users already have familiarity and make use of Google products in their personal life leverage this into showing your end users all the benefits this software change will offer them. Training itself should be carefully organized around key skills and users should be encouraged to be empowered and learn on their own by using the system. Also consider taking advantage of G Suite’s cross platform capacity by allowing users to learn on hardware/an OS they are comfortable with (if this is applicable) as it can speed up the learning process.

3. Plan For The Future: implementation of a new software suite brings with it several challenges and is not a short term thing. Changes to company policy for example will likely occur as you gain access to the features G Suite offers. To ease user concerns don’t make all these changes at once. There should be a clear plan as to what changes to policy and workflow are needed and such implementation should take place over a clearly defined time frame. A well planned and communicated migration helps make a transition easier on both IT and end users.

Conclusion

As the above shows G Suite is an easy to learn platform as it offers your end users access to a software suite they are likely familiar with and have used before. However, transitioning to a new software suite still brings with it challenges that have to be properly addressed. By putting user concerns at ease, having properly defend training, and a clear plan of action for implementation your switch to G Suite should go smoothly and be viewed as opportunity instead of a hindrance.