Questions about the Pentagon`s Joint Venture Defense Infrastructure Contract (JEDI) have been swirling since it was learned late Friday that Microsoft had won the 10-year deal to build the U.S. government`s war cloud. The Jedi Cloud (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) contract is an agreement between the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and a major cloud provider that will house 80% of all DoD data. One of the Pentagon`s main goals for Jedi is the ability to apply modern computing techniques such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to its defense operations. GAO must make its decision by November 14, although the Pentagon, in its amended Jedi tender, makes it clear that despite the protest, it « continues to procure. » A lot has happened. In fact, there is still a lot going on with this story. . There were also concerns about conflicts of interest, particularly a Pentagon employee, Deap Ubhi, who left the Pentagon for AWS and then returned to the Pentagon. While the Pentagon said Ubhi withdrew from JEDI`s work during his time at the Pentagon, the ad-mentioned Inspector General`s report indicates that he participated in market research for the JEDI project.
In July, Trump told reporters that he was receiving « huge complaints about the contract with the Pentagon and amazon. they say it was not a competitive offer. A few weeks later, his defense minister, Mark Esper, began a review of the procurement process and delayed the end of the competition. Companies interested in the deal included Amazon, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, IBM and REAN Cloud, which were part of Hitachi Data Systems. [3] After protests by Google employees, Google decided to withdraw from the contract due to a conflict with its corporate values. [4]. The JEDI contract was already controversial before Amazon`s defeat. IBM and Oracle, which were also selected for the deal, complained in early 2019 that the process was biased in Amazon`s favor. In response to accusations about Trump`s involvement, the DoD`s inspector general investigated any inappropriate influence from the White House, but found no evidence of pressure to favor Amazon.
Although the April report states that important White House witnesses were prevented from being questioned by investigators, leading the inspector general to say he could not determine the « full extent » of interactions between the White House and the DoD. In a roundtable discussion with reporters at the Pentagon, Lord responds to rumors that existing cloud contracts will be terminated once JEDI is awarded. Video Series: Journey to 5G – Get the benefit of an industry expert. The deal was considered « gift wrapping for Amazon, » until Oracle (co-chair of Safra Catz) challenged the award of the contract to Amazon Web Services (led by Jeff Bezos), referring to the National Defense Authorization Act on IDIQ contracts and the conflicts of interest of Deap Ubhi, who worked for Amazon before and after his tenure at the Department of Defense. This led Eric G. Bruggink, Chief Justice of the U.S. Federal Claims Court, to freeze the awarding of contracts. [5] [6]. Federal judge Patricia Campbell-Smith stopped Microsoft`s work on the project on February 13, 2020, the day before the system`s live departure, pending a resolution in Amazon`s complaint.
[13] It stated that Amazon`s claims were reasonable and « will likely be successful in supporting its argument that the DOD misvalued Microsoft`s offer. » [14] [15] As a result, the DOD was compelled by a federal judge to reopen the tender for the contract. As part of this reopening, Amazon has filed new protests regarding changes to certain parts of the contract. [16] Recent DoD legal statements show that the final award of the contract cannot take place before at least 17 August and can be delayed beyond that date. [17] Defense releases the second draft of RFP after receiving more than 1,000 industry questions, many of which will be answered with « your question will be noted. » The division says the final call will be released in May. . . .