jatiN mahindrA doT coM

The City of Angels has shown a great deal of faith in Google.  Late yesterday, the Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a $7.25 million contract that’ll have all branches of the city’s government adopting Google Apps over the next eight or so months.

If Google’s able to pull off the implementation in a smooth manner (there will be a slow rollout, with law enforcement agencies hanging back), this development could set the stage for all sorts of cities to follow suit.  L.A. might, in fact, represent a key point in relation to Eric Schmidt’s recent "billion-dollar opportunity" comment about enterprise.

Of course, if Google in some way fails, things won’t go so well.  And the L.A. City Council doesn’t have complete confidence in the search giant’s cloud.

David Sarno reported, "The contract was approved pending an amendment that would require Google to compensate the city in the event that the Google system was breached and city data exposed or stolen."

Also, Councilman Paul Koretz said, "It’s unclear if this is cutting edge, or the edge of a cliff and we’re about to step off."

Google’s no doubt putting some of its best people on the job to make sure L.A.’s gamble is rewarded.

Related Articles:

> Schmidt Labels Enterprise "The Next Billion-Dollar Opportunity

> Google Gets Serious About Marketing Apps

> Google:It Departments Moving Toward The Cloud

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