JEDI – Devstyler.io https://devstyler.io News for developers from tech to lifestyle Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:15:52 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.2 Microsoft Receives Cloud Revenue Boost From Pentagon https://devstyler.io/blog/2021/11/25/microsoft-receives-cloud-revenue-boost-from-pentagon/ Thu, 25 Nov 2021 15:15:52 +0000 https://devstyler.io/?p=75550 ...]]> Microsoft is one of the two beneficiaries of a Pentagon cloud computing contract to modernize IT systems. The government agency is soliciting bids for its Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) program, a replacement to the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) initiative from 2019.

The JEDI contract, which was intended to modernize and unify the Pentagon’s piecemeal IT systems through cloud capabilities, was for a single provider. It was awarded to Microsoft, but it was put on hold after Amazon protested, claiming that the award was “politically corrupted” by Donald Trump, who had a public spat with Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos. The JEDI contract was Microsoft’s first cloud computing win from the Pentagon, while Amazon has been a services provider to the agency since 2014. The JEDI contract was scrapped earlier this year.

The JWCC has a similar mandate, but it is more open-ended in a couple of respects. First, it has solicited bids from other commercial cloud providers, including Oracle Corporation and Alphabet Inc.’s  Google. In its press release, the General Services Administration stated that it “anticipates” awarding two contracts from the program to Amazon and Microsoft because they meet the Pentagon’s requirements for such systems.2

Second, the contract is indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity and has no ceiling on the dollar amount committed to the initiative. An IDIQ contract is for unlimited services for a limited period of time. The GSA stated in its press release that it expects to spend multiple billions of dollars on JWCC.

]]> Pentagon Cancels $10 Billion Cloud Contract Given to Microsoft Over Amazon https://devstyler.io/blog/2021/07/07/pentagon-cancels-10-billion-cloud-contract-given-to-microsoft-over-amazon/ Wed, 07 Jul 2021 13:44:19 +0000 https://devstyler.io/?p=58189 ...]]> The Department of Defense is canceling a controversial $10 billion cloud computing contract that had been awarded to Microsoft (MSFT) over Amazon (AMZN) under the Trump administration.

The department announced Tuesday that it is canceling the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract that was previously awarded to Microsoft. It will instead seek new solicitations for an updated Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) contract from Amazon and Microsoft.

The JEDI contract would have resulted in Microsoft building a cloud storage system for sensitive military data and technology, such as artificial intelligence, for the Department of Defense and could have resulted in revenue of up to $10 billion over 10 years.

Microsoft winning the JEDI contract in 2019 over Amazon caused some controversy, surprising many industry experts who saw Amazon as the stronger candidate to win the contract.

Amazon filed a suit with the US Court of Federal Claims contesting the decision, arguing that it was politically motivated by former President Donald Trump’s dislike of then Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and the Washington Post, which Bezos owns.

In March 2020, the department said it wished to re-evaluate its decision to award the contract to Microsoft. Now, the Defense Department plans to cancel it altogether and solicit bids for a new, updated contract from both Microsoft and Amazon.

The Defense Department said it decided to cancel the contract “due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conservancy and industry advances,” in a press release. Because of this, the JEDI contract “no longer meets its needs,” the release states.

The department will solicit proposals from Microsoft and Amazon Web Services and will also accept proposals from other Cloud Service Providers that “can also meet the DoD’s requirements,” the release said.

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