Tech Firms Ask Congress to Review Multi-Billion Dollar DoD Cloud Contract

An industry group representing approximately 80 tech firms has asked Congress to intervene in the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud acquisition. This single-award contract is potentially worth billions of dollars, and is scheduled to be bid out in mid-May, but the controversy over the decision to award the contract to one provider has ramped up in recent months.

The IT Alliance for Public Sector argues in a letter to key Congressional committee members that a single-award cloud contract contrasts with industry best practice, and increases the likelihood of vendor lock-in, “negatively impacting innovation, costs and security.”

ITAPS and the Professional Services Council – including industry heavyweights Oracle, HPE, IBM, Microsoft, and Google – have repeatedly voiced concerns over the process. Amazon Web Services is considered likely to be awarded the contract, and although it is a member of both groups, reportedly did not support the letter from ITAPS.