Microsoft Vendors Win a $7.6 Billion Deal for Pentagon Software

Microsoft Vendors Win a $7.6 Billion Deal for Pentagon Software
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Vendors led by General Dynamics were awarded a contract for as much as $7.6 billion to provide Microsoft office software for the Pentagon, according to Bloomberg.

While the Microsoft 360 productivity software is cloud-based, the contract isn’t related to the hotly disputed “JEDI“ cloud project that the Pentagon has yet to award. Amazon and Microsoft are the two remaining competitors for that prize, which may reach $10 billion. The project called Defense Enterprise Office Solutions, or DEOS, will provide tools including word processing, email, file-sharing and spreadsheets.

The agencies said they chose a bid from General Dynamics’ CSRA unit and partner companies for a contract that the Defense Department estimates at as much as $7.6 billion over 10 years, including a five-year base period and opportunities to renew.

“DOD’s cloud strategy includes both general purpose and fit-for-purpose clouds. DEOS is a great example of a fit-for-purpose cloud that supports our multi-cloud strategy,“ Defense Department Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said in a statement.

The announcement comes as the Pentagon is preparing for implementation of the controversial cloud-computing contract for Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI. Pentagon said the JEDI contract is intended to be the primary data repository for Pentagon data, while other cloud vendors will be used for other projects.

In April, the Pentagon eliminated Oracle and IBM from the competition for the JEDI contract. Oracle has said it plans to appeal a court ruling that dismissed its legal challenge of the JEDI contract. New Defense Secretary Mark Esper ordered a review of the contract after President Donald Trump endorsed criticism by Oracle and other companies that the bidding process was tilted to favor Amazon, the top cloud-computing provider.