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.

In a meeting, Honourable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani, Sandip Patel – Managing Director, IBM India and Gaurav Sharma – Vice President, IBM India Software Labs discussed the role of technology companies in accelerating the state’s Digital mission. During the meeting the Hon. Chief Minister shared his vision of making Gujarat a transparent, sensitive, decisive and progressive government, pivoted on technology. Shri Vijay Rupani also discussed the importance of collaboration between Industries, Government and Academia to drive growth opportunities within the state.

During the meeting, Gaurav Sharma discussed the proposed expansion of IBM India Software Labs’ operations in Gujarat including establishing a state-of-the-art product engineering, design and software development centre in Ahmedabad. The centre will focus on developing solutions while leveraging global design techniques, agile methodologies and advanced technologies including artificial intelligence (AI), security and automation to support the requirements of the government and global customers.

Speaking on the occasion, Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India said:

“IBM India is the microcosm of the IBM corporation and we are committed to furthering the country’s vision of Make in India, for India and the World. IBM brings its leading technologies and global best practices to India, including in product engineering and software manufacturing domain and we hope to do that in Gujarat as well. Our expansion in Gujarat would provide us access to world-class skills and diversity of talent, drive skills development and enhance employability.”

During the meeting, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Vijay Rupani also commented:

“Technology Development Centers are important for the state’s economy and act as a catalyst for creating a robust IT ecosystem in Gujarat. We are happy with IBM’s proposed expansion plan in the state and we will extend our full support to IBM to start its Development Center in Gujarat. I’m confident that the proposed centre will have a far-reaching impact by creating employment opportunities, making the citizens future skills ready and providing a strong foundation for the IT/ITeS sector which will further drive digital transformation in the state.”

The proposed expansion is aligned to IBM’s vision to shape the future of software development- through an open, secure, decentralized architecture that helps clients automate, secure, modernize and predict. Currently, IBM Software Labs operate from Bengaluru, Pune, Hyderabad and Chennai in India.