The U.S. DoD today announced that it was shelving the controversial JEDI contract awarded to Microsoft, citing industry advances. It will now work with both Microsoft and Amazon on a new project.<\/b>
\nBack in October 2019, Microsoft was awarded the $10 billion United States Department of Defense\u2019s (DoD) JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) contract after the company affirmed that it was not going to step down from the bidding process amidst protests. However, not all was smooth as Amazon \u2013 a company that was in the running for the contract \u2013 filed a lawsuit in November 2019 to challenge the contract. The DoD then re-evaluated the contract by inviting fresh bids in March 2020, before finally declaring in September of that year that the Redmond company will retain the contract. However, the legal challenges have since continued, with the likes of Oracle joining the list of companies bothered by the deal. Today, the DoD announced that it is canceling the JEDI contract completely, citing \u201cevolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances\u201d. John Sherman, acting DoD Chief Information Officer, added in a statement: The JEDI contract has been constantly litigated since it was initially awarded to Microsoft, with challengers citing political influence. With the contract now shelved, the DoD announced that it will go ahead with a new cloud project termed Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability (JWCC), which it calls a multi-cloud\/multi-vendor Indefinite Delivery-Indefinite Quantity (IDIQ) contract. While the exact financial specifics are not known, proposals for the multibillion-dollar contract will be sourced from both Microsoft and Amazon, which are considered by the DoD as the \u201conly Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) capable of meeting the Department\u2019s requirements\u201d. However, it does add in its press release that it will \u201cimmediately engage with [the] industry\u201d to research and determine if other cloud service providers can meet the requirements. In response to the decision, Microsoft\u2019s President for U.S. Regulated Industries, Toni Townes-Whitley, released a public statement that the company understands the DoD\u2019s rationale, adding that the department faced the option to either \u201cContinue with what could be a years-long litigation battle or find another path forward\u201d. However, Townes-Whitley also mentioned the need for attention from policymakers, saying: The executive says that the firm is \u201cready to support the DoD as they work through their next steps and its new cloud computing solicitation plans\u201d. CNBC reports that the department expects to \u201copen a broader competition as soon as 2025\u201d. With the JEDI contract itself now scrapped, it is also not clear what the implications of Oracle\u2019s petitions to Supreme Court are. Source: U.S. Department of Defense via CNBC<\/p>\n