Another state has beamed up into the Google cloud. Colorado, home of the Rocky Mountains and Coors Light, has become the latest state government in the U.S. to make the switch to Google Apps for Government, the federal government-approved cloud-based service designed with the needs of governments in mind.

According to a post on Google’s Enterprise Blog, Colorado will be moving over “more than 26,000 Executive Branch state employees” to the Google Cloud. Prior to The Centennial State, other governments that have adopted Google Apps for Government are Wyoming, Utah, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, the Kansas Department of Wildlife and Parks, and several other municipalities throughout the United States.

From the blog post:

Under the leadership of Secretary of Technology and State Chief Information Officer Kristin D. Russell, Colorado’s Office of Information Technology (OIT) has six priorities: customer success, innovation, information security, people, service excellence, and trusted partnership. The decision to migrate to Google Apps is closely aligned with these priorities. By bringing 15 siloed and disparate email systems together into one unified communications platform, the state will save approximately $2 million a year, cutting the cost of maintaining current email systems by nearly half. It will also allow employees across departments to find co-workers and communicate more effectively with one another. In addition, giving employees modern collaboration tools and better mobile access will help them deliver better citizen services. OIT completed thorough testing and analysis of multiple product solutions, including an independent third-party comparison,­­­ before selecting Google Apps. As part of this evaluation, the state reviewed the security controls used by Google Apps and found them to comply with or exceed state standards. OIT will work closely with Google Apps Premier Reseller Tempus Nova to bring Google Apps to Colorado employees.

Colorado: beloved destination of skiers everywhere, and now another satisfied Google customer.