AWS and Oracle Protest Microsoft’s Surprise $10 Billion Pentagon JEDI Contract Win

Amy Larsen DeCarlo – Principal Analyst, Security and Data Center Services

Summary Bullets:

• Microsoft’s JEDI win after an often controversial procurement process that many said favored AWS caught the industry off guard

• Arguing that the process was tainted by Department of Defense (DoD) employee conflicts of interest and political interventions, Oracle and AWS are both contesting the procurement in court

The DoD sent shockwaves through the cloud computing sector in October with the announcement that Microsoft Azure had won the multi-billion single award Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI). Cloud behemoth AWS, long considered to be the one to beat in the closely watched and often controversial process, expressed surprise at the outcome. Some insiders have suggested that challenges during the bidding gave Microsoft the time to pull together a more cohesive and competitive cloud play. But others, including Oracle, a one-time competitor for the deal, are calling out the process as inherently unfair.