If you have been reading this blog for a while, you know that I strongly believe in the cloud and what it will do for small and medium businesses.  Google has been a thought-leader in cloud computing (in SaaS and PaaS) and has taken consistent steps to make cloud computing a reality.  This week Google has moved even closer to making the cloud a viable solution for real businesses.  Here’s what they announced:

1. Google Apps Deployment Web Site
   • A web site full of deployment checklists and quick reference guides for deploying Google Apps in your organization
2. Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook
   • An Outlook plug-in that allows you to sync Outlook email, contacts and calendaring with Google email, contacts and calendar.

What cloud computing has needed is some company to come along and make cloud adoption “simple.”  This week, Google let everyone know they are going to be that company.