Google, the search engine giant, spends a lot of time touting its Google Apps services, which include numerous applications for businesses. This, despite the fact that the service has suffered considerable downtime. When the company should be concentrating on making the service reliable, it continues to seek new clients, many of whom may not realize that they could very well be signing onto Google at their own peril.

One entity to jump on board Google’s corporate e-mail service, which is merely a gussied-up version of Gmail, is the city of Los Angeles. This, after a unanimous city council vote which took place today.

“It’s unclear if this is cutting edge, or the edge of a cliff and we’re about to step off,” Councilman Paul Koretz said in an article posted on the web site of the Los Angeles Times. Indeed, this is true. By putting all of their e-mail eggs in one basket, and Google’s basket at that, the City of Los Angeles is playing a dangerous game. Google has already shown that its Google Apps platform is unreliable at best, and when the second largest city in the nation jumps aboard, bringing their volume with them, only bad things can happen, if history is any indication.

“It’s unclear if this is cutting edge, or the edge of a cliff and we’re about to step off,” Councilman Paul Koretz on the City of Los Angeles’ move to Gmail.

Maybe Los Angeles made the right move, and maybe Google will step things up, knowing that if the company blows it and leaves a major city hanging, it will find it very difficult to attract well-paying clients.

Los Angeles is expected to be fully converted to Google e-mail by June 2010 (a total of 30,000 city employees), with the police department being among the last departments to come aboard, waiting to see if the security measures Google offers are up to their standards. In the meantime, a small amount of users will give the system a test run. It will be interesting to see if Google sinks or swims with this client. If it swims, then quite possibly many other cities will follow Los Angeles’ lead. If Google sinks, it will be difficult, if not impossible for Google to present its Google Apps platform as a viable product.

The ball is in Google’s court. Will it be a home run, or a foul ball?