For months, Google has been slowly chisling away at Microsoft’s domination over the email market, introducing businesses to inexpensive, powerful cloud-based services. Yesterday, Google took another step to crack the enterprise: they shed the beta label from the consumer and enterprise versions of Google Apps.

The term has lost much of its significance in the IT world, thanks to Google’s fully-functional products remaining in beta for years at a time. But to the general public, specifically enterprise customers who would never rely on beta software for something as crucial as email and collaboration, removing the stigmatic label should make Google Apps look a lot more attractive.

Although the tag will be removed from Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and Talk, Google is very clear that this doesn’t mean the changes are over. Matthew Glotzbach, the Director of Product Management says that Google will “continue to innovate and improve upon the applications whether or not there’s a small ‘beta’ beneath the logo.”

Coming out of beta means more than just eliminating 4 letters from the logo - it also eliminates any pre-conceived notions that Google Apps is still in a trial phase and may be unstable or incomplete. Enterprises can now view Google Apps as a fully evolved suite and a serious investment.