Pentagon scraps JEDI cloud computing contract to Microsoft amid political battle that involves Amazon
WASHINGTON – U.S. military leaders on Tuesday formally canceled the Pentagon's $10 billion “war cloud” project and moved to terminate a contract with Microsoft as the Pentagon now will look to several companies to carry out a cloud computing contract that has become a political and legal hot potato. The Washington Times reports. Continue reading original article
The Military & Aerospace Electronics take:
7 July 2021 -- The move comes amid a major legal and political battle between the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) and Amazon Web Services, which was passed over in favor of Microsoft for the 10-year deal.
Amazon alleges that former President Donald Trump publicly and privately pressured the Pentagon to award the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) deal to Microsoft because of his personal disdain for Amazon and its founder, Jeff Bezos.
Tuesday’s decision may enable the Pentagon to sidestep what surely would have been a messy, protracted legal battle with Amazon, which filed a formal protest of the JEDI award almost immediately after Microsoft‘s surprise victory in 2019. It’s likely the case would have taken years to work its way through the legal system.
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John Keller, chief editor
Military & Aerospace Electronics
