According to Engadget (via Reuters), Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle agreed to share the Pentagon $9 billion cloud contract among themselves. The project’s goal is to renew the Pentagon’s IT infrastructure. Each company receives a separate contract for the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) project.
Back in 2019, Microsoft won the $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. The Department of Defense aimed to connect its different divisions with a cloud service provider company through the JEDI project. Giving Microsoft a $10 billion contract raised protests among other cloud providers, especially Amazon. The giant retailer claimed the contract was given to Microsoft due to Trump’s interference.
Amazon, Google, Microsoft, and Oracle won the Pentagon $9 billion cloud contract
As one of the great cloud service providers in the market, Amazon opposed the deal and opened a case against it in court. At the time, Amazon claimed the process leading to choosing Microsoft had “clear deficiencies, errors and unmistakable bias.” Additionally, Amazon believed Donald Trump had pressured the Pentagon to choose Microsoft as a contractor because the CEO Jeff Bezos is Trump’s “perceived political enemy.” The company even accused Trump of launching “repeated public and behind-the-scenes attacks” against itself.
The Pentagon inspector general office launched a probe into the case to see whether Donald Trump has used his influence to award the cloud contract to Microsoft. Investigators later said they found no evidence, but some White House officials refused to cooperate with the investigation. The Department of Defense finally decided to cancel the JEDI project because it could no longer meet its needs.
The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) project is now shared between four major cloud services providers, and each company receives a portion of this $9 billion contract. These companies should provide the Department of Defense with centralized management and distributed control, global accessibility, advanced data analytics, fortified security, and more. The contract continues until 2028.
2022-12-12 15:11:11