Quick round-up of the month and what to expect for February

Our Google Workspace Community is growing fast, with 300+ members already onboard. This dedicated Google Chat space is an exclusive hub for Workspace Administrators and Google Partners to connect, share best practices, and tackle challenges together.

Members get access to:

• Monthly expert-led webinars

• Real-world tips and advice from peers

• A supportive, vendor-neutral environment

It’s free to join and already being called one of the most valuable networks for Workspace professionals.

Want to join? Visit our community page here

Come and say hi and dive into the latest community discussions about all things Google Workspace.

Our Patronum ‘How To’ webinar series continues this month, helping customers get the most out of Patronum with live, hands-on walkthroughs and expert insights.

Each session is designed to help you:

• See Patronum in action with real-time demonstrations

• Learn best practices for maximising efficiency and governance

• Ask questions and get direct answers from our team

If you missed any previous sessions, you can catch up anytime on the Patronum YouTube channel.

Upcoming sessions:
📅 Thursday 12th February 2026, 16:00 GMT

These sessions are open, practical, and built around your feedback, helping you and your team make the most of Patronum’s automation and lifecycle management features.

If there’s a specific topic you’d like to see covered in a future session, we’d love to hear from you! Just reply to this email or reach out via our LinkedIn page.

We are kicking off the year with a major evolution of the Patronum platform. To support the next generation of Workspace management, we are rolling out a refreshed UI designed for even greater speed and precision.

Our Google Drive File Governance trial has officially concluded, but the mission to secure your data continues. Existing customers can now move to Patronum+ to unlock permanent, fully automated file governance alongside our award-winning user lifecycle tools.

• UI Refresh: Streamlined Profile and Policy pages for 2026.
  

• Pro-Rata Upgrades: Seamlessly move to Patronum+ at a prorated price.
  

• Automated Safety: Transition from manual oversight to policy-driven enforcement.

Upcoming Google Workspace Community Hangouts

We are welcoming back KAM from Dito after a brilliant last session to lead our next deep dive into the evolving security landscape. As we navigate 2026, the shift from "static checklists" to continuous governance has never been more critical for the modern IT admin.

This session is essential for IT admins and partners who want to move from reactive firefighting to a proactive, automated security posture.

Join us to ensure your domain remains resilient against the latest cloud threats.

Community Session: Google Workspace Community Hangout- Top Tips for Google Workspace Security

Date: 26th February 2026

Time: 11:00 AM Pacific, 16:00 GMT

The Google Workspace Community is about bringing like-minded people together to share ideas and offer advice where needed.

If you’re in the community and want to host a session or know someone perfect to host, feel free to reach out.

And if you’re not in the community yet but want to be part of exclusive conversations and a growing network of IT leaders, now’s the time to join.

Here’s the latest from Google Workspace!!!

New Built-in Interoperability Between Google Meet and Microsoft Teams Google has introduced native video conferencing interoperability, allowing ChromeOS-based Google Meet hardware to join Microsoft Teams meetings, and Windows-based Microsoft Teams Rooms to join Google Meet sessions. This feature is ON by default and manageable at the OU level, drastically reducing the friction for organisations operating in multi-platform environments.

Granular Controls for “Take Notes for Me” Sharing in Google Meet Admins now have deeper control over how AI-generated meeting notes are distributed. New settings allow you to set a default sharing value (e.g., "The host and co-hosts" vs. "Invited guests") and restrict whether meeting hosts can override these settings during a call. This ensures that sensitive AI-summarised data aligns with company data-handling policies.

Automatic Upgrade to Granular Response Controls for All Google Forms Google is automatically upgrading all existing Forms to support granular response controls. Form creators can now limit access to specific users, groups, or target audiences; mirroring the sharing logic of Google Docs and Drive. This transition improves data security by ensuring only intended recipients can interact with internal data collection tools.

Gemini Capabilities Expanded for Education Plus and Teaching & Learning Generative AI is coming to more classrooms with Gemini features now available to Education Plus and Teaching & Learning customers. Admins gain the ability to enable or disable Gemini across specific apps like Docs, Slides, and Vids separately, allowing for a phased and governed rollout of AI tools for educators and students over 18.

NotebookLM Integration as a Source in the Gemini App Workspace users can now add their NotebookLM notebooks as direct sources within the Gemini app. This allows for responses that are strictly grounded in a user’s specific research and uploaded documents. For admins, this provides a more secure and relevant way for teams to utilise AI without relying on general web data for niche professional tasks.

Proactive Governance is the Key to Scaling! With Google rolling out features at an accelerating pace, the challenge shifts from unlocking capabilities to managing change and digital hygiene. Patronum bridges this gap by turning these insights into governed workflows; automating lifecycle management and policy enforcement from day one so your team can focus on productivity instead of firefighting.