Utah becomes second state to go Google, switches all employees to Apps for Government

Google  made significant announcements recently regarding large companies and organizations that have switched to Google Apps and services. Most recently the company announced its biggest deal with a single company that plans to switch 110,000 employees of Spanish bank BBVA to Google Apps by the end of 2012. Today, Google announced that the State of Utah recently became the second state to move all employees to Google cloud services and Google Apps for Government following Wyoming in June.

Approximately 22,000 Utah State employees will make the switch to Google Apps for email and collaboration tools such as Docs and video chat. Google explained it won the bid among six other proposals to update the state’s aging email platform and transition it to the cloud with the help of Tempus Nova for implementation:

Information technology consolidation has long been a top priority for Utah to improve accountability, reduce costs, and increase services to taxpayers. Its legacy email system was unable to keep up with the increasing demand from staff to access information anytime and anywhere. The Department of Technology Services (DTS) started looking for a cloud solution that could address those challenges in 2010. Through a comprehensive and competitive bidding process, DTS received six proposals. Google Apps premier reseller and implementation partner Tempus Nova was selected to bring Google Apps to state employees.

Utah plans to move all employees at the state and local levels to the new platform by the end of 2012. Google also noted the move will allow Utah to meet FISMA requirements and provide a “more efficient way to comply with government eDiscovery requirements”.