Hello everyone,
We're pleased to announce the ability to upgrade Managed Google Play Enterprises (which use Gmail accounts) to Managed Google domains (which use work email addresses) to bring enhanced security. We're looking for customers to provide early feedback on this process where we will perform assisted account upgrades before we make our API-based process available more widely via EMMs in 2025.
Background
Customers have told us that administering Managed Google Play Accounts enterprises with a Gmail account doesn't meet their security and governance best practices. Additionally, if access to Gmail accounts is lost, recovery can require the involvement of both the EMM and Google. We're now announcing the ability to upgrade an IT admin Gmail account to a full corporate email address associated with a managed Google domain.
Upgrading an IT admin account from a Gmail account to a managed Google account provides many benefits, including:
- Admins log in with a corporate email address
- Allows the same organization to bind multiple EMM instances under their managed Google domain
- Prevents scenarios where IT admin @gmail.com accounts are accidentally lost or deleted
- Provides better governance of IT admin accounts and easier ability to change admin accounts when roles change
- Allows for SSO into IT admin accounts, reducing the number of IT admin passwords (vs using Gmail accounts)
This trusted tester program allows customers who want to take advantage of these benefits to upgrade immediately, before EMM APIs are available.
What We Will Be Testing
This change will involve changing the IT admin login account from a Gmail account to a Managed Google domains account corresponding to the IT admin’s corporate email address.
There will be no changes to any users’ individual managed Google Play accounts in use on their Android devices. Upgrading individual user accounts from Managed Google Play accounts to Managed Google Domains accounts will be supported in the future - please stay tuned for additional future announcements in this area.
Customer Requirements
- Customer must have a Managed Google Domain (e.g., yourcompanyname.com) and must have superadmin privileges on this Managed Google Domain
- Customers will be asked to provide and verify the following information (more details to be provided at program start):
- Enterprise ID of Managed Google Play Accounts enterprise
- Customer ID of the target Managed Google Accounts domain,
- Company email address of IT admin after upgrade (which is a domain SuperAdmin)
- Eligible customers can upgrade Dev and Test accounts first, but we're looking for customers also willing to upgrade the admin accounts for their production instances.
The ideal customers would be organizations of different sizes whose corporate governance rules require them to move off administration with Gmail accounts as soon as possible.
Timing
This trusted tester program is targeted to begin in the 2nd half - late November 2024.
Call to Action
If you are interested in taking part please reply below and I will be in touch privately with more details.
Thanks so much,
Lizzie
