How Universities Are Adapting to Google’s Storage Restrictions
Universities have quickly shifted gears in response to Google’s storage limits, exploring new cloud solutions or on-premises options to stay compliant. Many schools are instituting stricter storage policies for individuals and streamlining operations by enforcing rules for deactivating unused accounts.
For instance, Iowa State University has implemented a 3-gigabyte quota for all individual Drive accounts to comply with storage limits. Accounts exceeding this limit will be switched to read-only mode until they meet the quota, with notifications displayed on the Drive site to alert employees about their storage status.
Lewis & Clark College has adopted a similar strategy by setting gigabyte limits for faculty, staff, students, departmental accounts, and shared drives to align with storage restrictions. By analyzing data consumption patterns, the university has allocated 100TB of storage equitably among these groups.
DISCOVER: Why your college should consider a Google Workspace for Education audit.
The University of Michigan has also enforced storage limits, providing active users with 250GB of storage while alumni and retirees are allocated 15GB only. This decision has sparked some frustration among current students and alumni, as reported in local news.
Despite needing more than 100TB, the University of Hawai‘i has opted to continue using Google due to the significant effort and cost involved in migrating storage to another platform. The university recently announced that all faculty and staff will receive Google Workspace for Education Plus licenses, including an extra 20GB of cloud storage per licensed user on top of the 100TB allocation.
Optimizing Google Storage and Exploring Alternatives
CDW Education Amplified Services offers solutions to help universities maximize their use of Google Workspace despite the storage constraints. Tools like Gopher for Drive can help organizations monitor storage usage, generate reports, and manage shared files effectively.
Universities are also exploring other storage options, with platforms offering consumption-based models gaining traction. In this model, institutions pay for a base storage capacity and additional usage beyond that threshold, offering scalability and cost control. Storage as a Service models provide a pay-per-use structure, where vendors manage lifecycle management, allowing flexibility and cost-efficiency.
UP NEXT: Debunking five common security myths about Google Workspace for Education.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on January 31, 2023, and updated on October 14, 2024.
