Will Amazon win $10B cloud contract? Pentagon prepares for cloud transition
The winner of the massive $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud storage contact with the Pentagon will likely soon be revealed, and the agency is already planning for the transition.
Late last month, the Pentagon’s chief information officer reportedly sent a memo asking different departments – including some within the Air Force, Army and Navy – to identify programs that could be transitioned to the JEDI infrastructure, as reported by Bloomberg. Department leaders were also reportedly instructed not to initiate other cloud agreements without permission.
"There is now a substantial queue of programs prioritized by the Services’ and Combatant Commands’ needs waiting for the availability of JEDI," Defense Department spokeswoman Elissa Smith told the publication.
The Defense Department is not expected to announce the winner before July 19.
A spokesperson for the Pentagon did not return FOX Business’ request for comment.
The Defense Department announced this spring that Amazon and Microsoft were selected to continue in the competition for the lucrative contract, meaning IBM and Oracle were eliminated from consideration. They did not meet the stated minimum requirements for the project.
Oracle has filed complaints regarding the JEDI contract, over alleged connections between Amazon employees and Department of Defense officials and potentially unfair bias toward the e-commerce giant. It also protested the agency’s decision to award the contract to s single company.
While the Government Accountability Office (GAO) initially dismissed Oracle’s claims, oral arguments for a court case are expected to begin next month in D.C.
The Pentagon has said the contract could be worth as much as $10 billion with the potential to span a decade.
The single-source clause has sparked concerns among rivals that Amazon was likely to be the winner, due to its other standing cloud deals – including a $600 million cloud contract with the CIA. That indicates the company already has the approval to handle sensitive government data.
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Last year, search giant Google pulled its bid for the JEDI contract, amid concerns the job does not align with the company’s artificial intelligence principles. Google has dealt with employee protests and concerns over producing technology for the U.S. military.