How do people manage access to multiple client Workspaces without being a paid user in their account

[Xavvi]

Hello,

I manage multiple Workspace accounts for my clients. It gets tricky when they have 2FA turned on as I often need to wait on them to send me codes in order to log in. And more often than not it doesn't happen quickly enough and the page times out.

It would be great if there was a "Manager" type role that could be assigned to a user and that didn't require that user to be a paying subscriber. I don't need an email account in each client's Workspace or permissions to use the Google Drive etc, I just need access to manage it for them. They aren't always savvy enough to know how to temporarily disable 2FA so I can log in.

I've had this conundrum for a few years now. How do other people manage this? 

[cryptochrome · Accepted solution]

Multiple options, two of which come to mind:

1.) Become a Google partner. If you have multiple clients, this might be a good option for you. You resell Workspace to your customers, and you get a central management console from which you can access the admin consoles of your clients. Without needing an account in their Workspace. 

2.) Check out Google's Cloud Identity Free edition. A very simplified explanation: It's basically user accounts on Google Cloud that you can use to access Google Workspace services, including admin console of Workspace. It's free. So you don't need a paid license in your clients' workspace. 

[Xavvi]

Amazing, thank you for your reply. I'm surprised none of the support reps I've chatted to have offered either of these solutions when I've asked about it before.

With the Google Partner option, I was always slightly put off because I don't deal in hundreds of Workspace seats and I thought there Was a minimum amount required annually to keep your partner status? Or did I make that up? 

For the second option, I should clarify that while I don't need, for example, a Gmail account for myself within the client's Workspace, I do sometimes need access the client Gmail accounts in order to change settings or help them solve problems. Does the Cloud Identity Free edition allow access to Gmail accounts or are they all completely blocked? 

[cryptochrome]

There are no requirements for becoming a Google partner regarding the number of seats sold. There are many very small partners with just a hand full of clients. However, Google will start charging a membership fee of 1000$ later this year. But since you earn commissions and other incentive payouts from Google, this should typically not be a problem.

Cloud Identity Free edition does not allow access to Gmail. You can find out more about what it can do here:

https://support.google.com/cloudidentity/answer/7319251

[Xavvi]

Thanks @cryptochrome. I think the Google membership fee might be a bit prohibitive. I will look into this some more and see if it can work. I'll definitely need Gmail access so that probably rules out Cloud Identity. 

Thank you for your help! 

[ajojose33333344]

@Xavvi Even though It may not be relevant here I would like to add a point that If you want to access the admin console without any cost:

You can simply create a user and give him super admin or whichever admin access youwant and you don't need any license to login to the admin console by using that id.

You can also have access to apps like groups, vault..etc (as admin) to change settings.

Ensure that in order to create an id without a license your auto licensing is turned off and should keep it off for that OU where you are creating this free admin.

[Xavvi]

Hello @ajojose33333344,

This is useful to know, thank you very much for your reply. I had no idea there even was an auto licensing option. This will be handy for general Workspace management, even if it doesn't allow me to adjust the client Gmail settings specifically. 

There is a lot to learn about Workspace!