The Pentagon reveals outcome of Amazon vs Microsoft JEDI contract review

The US Department of Defense has revealed the outcome of its re-evaluation of the awarding of the $10 billion JEDI cloud services contract, after their initial decision to choose Microsoft was contested by Amazon.

“The Department has completed its comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government,” the Pentagon said in a statement. “The JEDI Cloud contract is a firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract that will make a full range of cloud computing services available to the DoD. While contract performance will not begin immediately due to the Preliminary Injunction Order issued by the Court of Federal Claims on February 13, 2020, DoD is eager to begin delivering this capability to our men and women in uniform.”

The deal is to modernize the Department of Defence’s IT infrastructure and Amazon has complained Microsoft did not have the necessary capabilities do complete the deal, and that the contract had been awarded to them due to “blatant political interference.”

The new review by the DOD reconfirms that Microsoft “represent the best value to the Government“, something which Microsoft themselves asserted, saying Amazon “bid high and lost.”

Despite the new decision, due to the Feb 13 Preliminary Injunction Order issued by the Court of Federal Claims work can not start yet.

Microsoft’s share price, which has been flagging these last few days, moved higher on the news.

via CNBC