Just over a month ago the Pentagon awarded Microsoft the contract Joint Business Defense Infrastructure (JEDI, news that we share a few days later here on the blog (you can consult it In the following link). This contract will cover all branches of the US Army. in which a standard cloud environment will be created within the Department of Defense. The $ 10 billion contract is expected to span a 10-year period.
Several companies were involved in this contract, of which Google, Amazon, Microsoft were in the bidding (just to mention the best known) and that in the end ended up in the hands of Microsoft, a decision that did not seem to the other companies and that also criticized Amazon.
In a statement that attributes the contract to Microsoft, the Defense Ministry said:
"The acquisition process was carried out in accordance with current laws and regulations." “All (offers) were treated fairly and evaluated in accordance with the evaluation criteria established in the request for offer.
Before awarding the award, the department spoke with the Inspector General of the Department of Defense, who informed the decision to move forward, “added the ministry.
This contract is of the utmost importance because it is at the heart of the Pentagon's efforts to modernize its technology, because today much of the military uses computer systems from the 80s and 90s and the defense department has spent billions of dollars trying to modernize them.
However The decision to grant JEDI to Microsoft before Amazon has surprised more than one. On the one hand, AWS was considered the leader in creating cloud services for the Central Intelligence Agency and secondly because Amazon had been certified with the highest level of security, while Microsoft struggled to catch up with cloud computing.
It should also be taken into account that the attribution process, which lasted much longer than expected, also, in addition to having intrusions from the White House, since as many will know, President Trump has long shown his hostility towards Jeff Bezos. , CEO of Amazon.
Amazon has decided to sue the Pentagon. The company alleges an "undoubted bias" on the part of the government in awarding a large contract in the field of military technology to Microsoft.
In a statement published a few days ago, Amazon's cloud unit said that:
"In many aspects of the JEDI evaluation process they have obvious flaws, errors and biases and it was important to address these issues"
The company appealed the award of the contract before the US Federal Claims Court.
Amazon Web Services spokesperson said that the company was "particularly experienced and qualified" for the job, adding: "We also believe that it is critical for our country that the government and its elected leaders manage objectively and without political influence«.
On Friday, the company appealed in federal court (the United States Court of Federal Claims). This court has special jurisdiction: The principal jurisdiction of the court is at 28 USC § 1491, known as the Tucker Act. Under this law and other laws passed by Congress, you may have many special claims against the federal government, including contract claims, offers, military wage claims, civil wage claims, tax claims, vaccine damage claims, and patent claims. and copyright.
"The record for this bid challenge will likely contain such sensitive information," added the specialist.
Last week, the United States Secretary of Defense, Mark Esper, rejected any suggestion of bias in the Pentagon decision awarding the contract to Microsoft after Amazon announced its intention to challenge the decision in court.
"We believe that the facts will demonstrate that they (the Department of Defense) have implemented a detailed, comprehensive and fair process to determine whether Microsoft best meets the needs of the fighter," Microsoft said in a statement.