The Google Apps Team has announced on their blog that starting today, Google+ is considered a core Google Apps for Work service when used within a domain or corporate intranet. This gives Google+ the same level of technical support as their other core services such as Google Drive or Gmail.

The Apps Team says that most current Google Apps agreements will suffice and that Google+ will be compliant with all of the same terms, conditions and service levels described in the Google Apps Technical Support Services Guidelines and the Google Apps Service Level Agreement. Google+ will be added to the Apps Service Dashboard (ASD) and to the Admin console.

Desktop users will now be automatically upgraded to the current Google+ version and will no longer have an option to stay with a “classic” version. Mobile apps users of Google+ should upgrade to the current version since older versions will not be supported any further.

“Engaging people is key to innovation, and many Google Apps for Work domains have found Google+ to be an invaluable tool that helps drive active engagement and cultivate innovative ideas from all levels of the organization,” notes the Google Apps Team. “By making Google+ the newest core service for Google Apps, Google+ will now provide the support and guaranteed SLAs that businesses need.”

Google+ will continue to be a non-core service for Google Apps for Education domains.