On Friday, the Department of Defense (DOD) released a statement confirming its decision, earlier this year, to award Microsoft a $10 billion cloud-computing Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract. In the meantime, Amazon is holding up the contract claiming President Trump is to blame.
The DOD claims it has completed a “comprehensive re-evaluation of the JEDI Cloud proposals and determined that Microsoft’s proposal continues to represent the best value to the Government.”
It will be a “firm-fixed-price, indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity project.” The contract will provide a “full range of cloud computing services available to the DOD.” the statement confirms.
Contract performance is being held up by a Preliminary Injunction Order issued Court of Federal Claims injunction obtained by Amazon to stop all work on the project.
Pending resolution of the injunction, the Pentagon is “eager to begin delivering this capability to our men and women in uniform.”
The DOD awarded Microsoft the contract in October 2019. Within a month Amazon filed suit under the Tucker Act to allow losing contractors “bid protest” rights for government contracts. Amazon claimed that President Trump showed improper “unmistakable bias” and influenced the decision to award the contract to Microsoft rather than Amazon.
