Johnston also said Google is adding new MDM capabilities that can let businesses monitor usage, enforce strong passwords for users and enable device encryption.

He highlighted three areas that have undergone a significant revamp – a new standard for privacy has been introduced; eDiscovery capabilities have been transformed; and mobile device management features have been updated. The changes that have come to Google’s cloud storage service have been announced by the company on Monday, Sept 21. “These capabilities help you meet your legal obligations and ensure that employee files are archived and available as long as needed, even if employees delete those files from their Drive”. “It’s like having an extra storage device sitting there, helping you retain things that need to be retained”. The Vault is integrated into the improved Google Drive for Business.

The new tool is now in limited rollout, and will be fully available in the next few months.

Google Vault’s data management properties and e-discovery service equips Google Drive for Business with better data retention features.

“Google Drive … the safest place for all of your work”. 

 Of course, it remains to be seen whether the company’s assurances and this certification will do enough to allay users’ fears, particularly about their data being used to power Google’s advertising engine. “Or if an employee leaves the company, you can selectively wipe corporate data while leaving personal data untouched”.

Specifically, Google is adding a new eDiscovery feature that employers can use to make sure their employee records stay on their systems and searchable.

All of this comes just a day before Microsoft is slated to release Office 2016, the next version of its venerable productivity suite. The Google Apps For Work website also offers a demo of the Google Drive for Business. Improved collaboration tools that allow people to work together on documents from the Office desktop apps are one of the marquee features of the upgrade – a direct strike against Google’s dominance in the collaboration space.