https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Cloud


Shutterstock

Supreme Court Columns with Clouds

JEDI Update: Sifting Through the Oracle-Microsoft-AWS Drama

  • Written by Kelly Teal
  • January 10, 2020
The feds want Oracle’s lawsuit out, AWS’ case remains active and Microsoft has started work on the coveted project.

The drama surrounding the federal government’s $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud initiative roils on, even as the project itself now has fallen more than a year behind target rollout dates.

For starters, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Defense are working to toss Oracle’s lawsuit now that the JEDI contract has gone to Microsoft.

Oracle first sued early last year, claiming the government should award the initiative to more than one vendor. It also has since secondarily alleged that certain Defense Department officials had a conflict of interest that would favor Amazon Web Services.

Now, though, federal attorneys are arguing that most of Oracle’s case turned “moot” once JEDI went to Microsoft, and say it’s time for the lawsuit to go to pasture.

“Oracle requested that AWS be eliminated from the JEDI competition, and DoD has effectively granted this relief, albeit for different reasons, by the award to Microsoft,” DoD and Justice Department attorneys wrote, according to Federal News Network, in a late December brief to the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

Meanwhile, the AWS case protesting the award to Microsoft continues. FedScoop notes that the DoD and Microsoft have agreed to hold off on work under JEDI, minus so-called “initial preparatory activities,” until Feb. 11 — more than a year behind the Pentagon’s original schedule for JEDI, as NextGov notes.

The idea is that the federal claims court will settle AWS’ dispute by mid-February and Microsoft will be able to freely work on JEDI. Last month, Dana Deasy, the DoD’s chief information officer, said the agency and Microsoft will implement the unclassified portions of JEDI as soon as February; classified aspects are expected to start this coming fall, according to multiple reports.

On that note, Microsoft late last month secured what The Washington Post calls an “obscure” DoD IT certification that will allow it to store classified data in the cloud. The certification lasts for three months; the government will consider a longer accreditation after the initial period ends. Prior to these developments, only AWS held that credential — and remains the sole cloud provider that can store data in the cloud at the top-secret level, according to the Post.

So far, AWS has not requested a preliminary injunction that would bar Microsoft from starting work on JEDI next month. As such, even as AWS tries to duke it out against the government in court, Microsoft is busy staffing up for JEDI and applying for employee security clearances. CNBC reported in December that Microsoft is trying to lure workers from defense contractors and other companies to get the people it needs to implement and run JEDI. Clearances can mean a 20-30% increase in salary, CNBC reported.

Microsoft landed the much-coveted JEDI project in late October after months of speculation that the deal would go to AWS. When Microsoft secured JEDI, industry observers said President Trump influenced the outcome — he has a longstanding public beef with Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, who owns The Washington Post, a media outlet critical of Trump.

Beth Kindig, tech analyst

Beth Kindig

However, one commentator says the award to Microsoft has nothing to do with politics and everything to do with Microsoft’s approach to cloud, as well as the company’s history serving government agencies. Beth Kindig is a technology analyst. In December 2018, she predicted Microsoft would win JEDI. When she did so, Oracle and IBM already had made their public complaints known that they thought the selection process was unfairly weighted in favor of AWS.

“Yet, I was confident [Microsoft] would secure the bid due to one important distinction across cloud IaaS products,” Kindig wrote in a Dec. 17 column for Forbes. “The distinction is that Amazon’s AWS may be the leader in cloud computing, but the company is not the leader in hybrid cloud computing, and this distinction is critical for understanding the motivations of the Department of Defense.”

Nonetheless, AWS is pressing ahead with its contention that it should have won JEDI. Kindig and other observers have noted that grumble probably doesn’t have to do with money, as JEDI will not substantially contribute to any one vendor’s market share. Rather, she wrote, “Amazon is likely upset by the validation that Microsoft may offer the better security for classified initiatives.”

Tags: Cloud Service Providers Cloud Specialty Practices Technologies

Most Recent


  • trophy
    Verizon, AT&T Among Avaya Partner of the Year Award Winners
    Who was awarded the overall U.S. Partner of the Year for total growth?
  • Eight, 8
    8 Takeaways You Need to Know from AWS’ Public Sector Summit
    Get the scoop from Jeffrey Kratz, who now leads the vendor’s public sector partner program.
  • Managed Security Services
    Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report: Employee Cybersecurity Training Still Lagging as Stolen Credentials Rise
    The DBIR team examined more than 914,000 incidents and nearly 235,000 data breaches.
  • Are You Ready
    Microsoft Readies Era of NPU Devices with Hybrid Loop, Project Volterra
    Devices with neural processors will enable processing to shift from device to cloud.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • hybrid cloud
    NetApp Focuses on Unified Hybrid Cloud Experience with Latest Updates
  • Woman lifts lid on box
    Nuvias CEO Lifts Lid on Cloud Distribution Acquisition
  • clouds
    Nutanix Elevate Program Now Open to Service Providers Globally
  • Twenty, 20
    The CF List: 20 Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) Providers You Should Know

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

8 Takeaways You Need to Know from AWS’ Public Sector Summit

May 24, 2022

Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report: Employee Cybersecurity Training Still Lagging as Stolen Credentials Rise

May 24, 2022

Top 5 Cloud, Data Announcements from Informatica World

May 24, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

Leverage Your MSP’s People Power

May 24, 2022

How SD-WAN Helps Secure the Expanding Network Perimeter

May 19, 2022

A Sneak Peek at the 2022 BrightCloud Threat Report

May 17, 2022

Webinars

View all

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

How to Supercharge The Network to Support Your IT Superhero Moves

May 3, 2022

The 2022 MSP Challenge: Scale Service Delivery Despite the Talent Gap

April 21, 2022

White Papers

View all

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

The AT&T Cybersecurity Incident Response Toolkit

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@Avaya doles our Partner of the Year honors to @ATTBusiness @VerrizonBusiness @Converge_One @Jenne_inc @TELUS… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@IngramMicroInc's John Dusett talks @ThisIsCloudBlue, MSPs, cybersecurity, AWS and more. dlvr.it/SR0Cw1 https://t.co/OpcZRj9fdb

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@VZDBIR dove deep into the latest #databreach trends. @TheMediaTrust @saryunayyar @Gurucul @olsontmt… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

Using people power to drive #profitability and capitalize on emerging #tech @Sherweb #MSPs dlvr.it/SQzrrl https://t.co/XwLfY492B0

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Unit4Global @embridgeconsult talk the shift away from service delivery to sales #ERP. dlvr.it/SQzmPV https://t.co/dKLAPIKfzS

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

This Thursday, join us online for this incredible discussion, hosted by @chachelly of @figfirm, and featuring the i… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

Check out the news coming from @Informatica today regarding cloud, data, #AI. #InformaticaWorld… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

What are traits of a valuable vendor/partner relationship? We asked our roundtable partner participants to weigh in… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 23, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X