Google Apps for Business has cleared a key security hurdle by achieving ISO 27001 certification, which it hopes will persuade large businesses that it’s safe to move crucial data and processes to its cloud.

The award was announced on Google’s blog this week by Eran Feigenbaum, Google’s enterprise director of security.

Instead of being a barrier, security is now becoming a reason that businesses switch to the cloud, he wrote. “The reason for this shift is that businesses are beginning to realize that companies like Google can invest in security at a scale that’s difficult for many businesses to achieve on their own.”

Gaining the certificate should carry a fair amount of weight with many enterprise tech leaders, with Google Apps systems, technology, processes and data centres meeting the stringent rules set down by the International Organization for Standardization (IOS).

The certification follows a six month audit by Ernst & Young CertifyPoint, an ISO certification body accredited by the Dutch Accreditation Council, a member of the International Accreditation Forum (IAF).