NEW DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE MODERNIZATION: Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability

A controversial IDIQ contract got terminated

Pentagon kills Microsoft’s $10B JEDI cloud contract, says tech is now outdated

Amazon's legal stall tactics seem to have paid off.

Tim De Chant - 7/6/2021, 1:52 PM

"Following years of controversy and intrigue, the Pentagon canceled its JEDI cloud computing contract with Microsoft today.

Microsoft was awarded the contract in October 2019, but work stalled as Amazon, the other finalist, mounted a legal challenge. Now, the Department of Defense has scrapped the entire project, saying that it’s out of date.

“The Department has determined that, due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances, the JEDI Cloud contract no longer meets its needs,” a Pentagon spokesperson said in a statement. . ."

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Update 5:40 pm EDT: Microsoft and Amazon have both commented on the nixed contract.

"We understand the DoD’s rationale, and we support them and every military member who needs the mission-critical 21st century technology JEDI would have provided," Toni Townes-Whitley, Microsoft's President of US Regulated Industries, wrote in a blog post.

"The DoD faced a difficult choice: Continue with what could be a years-long litigation battle or find another path forward. The security of the United States is more important than any single contract, and we know that Microsoft will do well when the nation does well. Because the security of the United States through the provision of critical technology upgrades is more important that any single contract, we respect and accept DoD’s decision to move forward on a different path to secure mission-critical technology."

Amazon had a different take on the matter, of course. “We understand and agree with the DoD’s decision," an AWS spokesperson said to Ars. "Unfortunately, the contract award was not based on the merits of the proposals and instead was the result of outside influence that has no place in government procurement. Our commitment to supporting our nation’s military and ensuring that our warfighters and defense partners have access to the best technology at the best price is stronger than ever. We look forward to continuing to support the DoD’s modernization efforts and building solutions that help accomplish their critical missions.”

 

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RELATED EARLIER CONTENT ON THIS BLOG

 

March 2018

The Insider

DOD plans to release second draft solicitation for JEDI cloud

March 26, 2018 | Justin Doubleday 

 

The Defense Department plans to release a second draft request for proposals for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud competition in April after the first draft received more than 1,000 comments.
The single-award strategy has proven controversial, with many companies and industry associations arguing DOD should use multiple awards for services that are expected to be used throughout the department.
In a March 24 update to the Federal Business Opportunities website, the JEDI cloud team announced it had received 1,089 comments from 46 vendors, two associations and three government agencies on the first draft RFP released March 7.
"We appreciate industry's participation in the draft solicitation process and are confident that these inputs will help us to refine and clarify the requirement," the posting states. "DOD remains committed to a transparent process. To that end, the JEDI Cloud team intends to release answers to all previously submitted comments/questions along with a second draft solicitation package for additional comment during the week of April 9."
DOD still plans to release the final RFP in early May, the notice adds.

The Pentagon is planning the JEDI contract as a single, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity award to provide cloud services DOD-wide, officials told companies during a March 7 industry day held to unveil the first draft RFP.

 

The Pentagon says Microsoft should still get its $10B JEDI contract following an investigation

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First some background context from previous posts on this blog:

26 October 2019

A Win For The Cyber Warfare War-Fighter: Microsoft Snags A Big $10B Pentagon Contract for JEDI

JEDI - Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure. As conceived, JEDI is meant to unite the entire U.S. military — virtually every fighter on the ground, every ship at sea, and every jet in the air within a single data framework.
AN ENTERPRISE CLOUD SOLUTION, but just hold on to your laser sabers, guys > The JEDI contract process continues to be under investigation by the DoD inspector general and stuck in federal court.
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Every media outlet in The Universe has their stories

This one is taken from Federal Times 
IT and Cloud Report

Amazon or Microsoft? DoD picks a winner for its controversial JEDI contract

By: Andrew Eversden

"Microsoft won the contract for the Department of Defense’s enterprise cloud, potentially worth $10 billion over 10 years, the Pentagon announced Oct. 25.The tech giant won the award over Amazon Web Services, just three days after Secretary of Defense Mark Esper recused himself from the award after months of review because his son worked for IBM. Amazon was widely considered by industry to be the front runner for the award. . .

This award is an important step in execution of the Digital Modernization Strategy

The DoD cloud strategy called for a multi-cloud, multi-vendor strategy, but industry has had concerns that the award will lead to vendor lock-in. . . "