Google Workspace Unlocks Deeper Data Insights with Daily Drive Exports.

Google has rolled out a major update for Google Workspace administrators, introducing the public beta of a new feature that allows for daily exports of Google Drive inventory reports directly to BigQuery. This enhancement significantly upgrades the existing weekly export option, providing organizations with a more frequent and granular look at their data assets.

The new functionality is designed to give administrators a powerful tool for improving data governance, enhancing security, and ensuring compliance. By exporting Drive data to BigQuery, organizations can leverage Google's robust data warehouse to analyze critical metrics in-depth, gaining a richer understanding of how data is classified, accessed, and used across their domain.

Why Daily Exports Are a Game-Changer.

While the previous weekly export provided a useful snapshot, the new daily cadence offers several key advantages for administrators:

• Proactive Security: The frequent data flow to BigQuery enables administrators to spot unusual access patterns, unauthorized file sharing, or potential data exfiltration attempts in a much more timely manner. This shift from a reactive to a proactive security posture can be critical in mitigating risks before they escalate.
• Enhanced Compliance: Many industries are subject to strict data retention and access regulations. With daily inventory reports, organizations can more easily audit their data and prove compliance by having a current record of how sensitive information is being handled.
• Deeper Analytics: The ability to export daily data allows for more sophisticated analysis and trend identification. Administrators can build custom dashboards in BigQuery that track data growth, sharing habits, and usage trends over time, providing valuable insights for resource planning and policy enforcement.

How to Enable the Feature.

The daily export feature is not automatically enabled. Google has confirmed that administrators must manually turn it on at the domain level. For organizations already using the weekly export, the transition is simple; they can switch to the daily schedule within the new "Export Schedule" section in their Drive inventory exports settings.

It is important to note that while the feature itself is a part of the supported Google Workspace editions, there are associated costs for storing and querying the exported data within your Google Cloud project's BigQuery instance. Google advises administrators to review the BigQuery pricing details and use the Google Cloud Pricing Calculator to estimate potential costs.

This feature is available to customers on the following Google Workspace editions:

• Enterprise Standard.
• Enterprise Plus.
• Frontline Plus.
• Education Standard.
• Education Plus.
• Enterprise Essentials Plus.
• Cloud Identity Premium.

This update solidifies Google's commitment to providing comprehensive and flexible data management tools for businesses of all sizes, empowering administrators with the data and insights necessary to maintain a secure and compliant digital environment.

Also Read: How To Audit File Sharing of Personal Google Drive.