27 juillet 2018 | International, C4ISR

The Pentagon just got one step closer to awarding its $10 billion cloud contract

The Pentagon released its final request for proposal for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract.
The lucrative winner-take-all deal may be valued at as much as $10 billion.
Amazon is considered the front-runner for the contract since the tech giant already services the cloud system used by U.S. intelligence agencies.

The Defense Department took a large step forward Thursday in its march toward procuring a secure cloud software, an acquisition potentially worth up to $10 billion.

After a nearly two-month delay, the Pentagon released its final request for proposal for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract. The long-awaited final request for proposal simply outlines what companies will have to deliver in order to get the lucrative deal.

The Pentagon's cloud project will transition massive amounts of data to a commercially operated secure cloud system. The deal is a "single-source" award, meaning that only one company will win the entirety of the contract.

Amazon is considered the front-runner for the contract since the tech giant already services the cloud system used by U.S. intelligence agencies.

Amazon's cloud boasts the highest possible security level, while many of its competitors' clouds do not. However, other cloud providers — such as IBM, Microsoft and Oracle — have worked with government agencies for many decades. That could help their chances of winning the decade-long JEDI contract.

The DoD "has an incredibly unique and complex technology estate and finite set of talent and resources," Pentagon Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said in a statement. "We need help learning how to put in place an enterprise cloud and the JEDI Cloud is a pathfinder effort that will help Department of Defense do that."

Experts think the deal could be a seismic development in the defense-tech world.

"This award could be market-shaping," Andrew Hunter, director of the Defense-Industrial Initiatives Group at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, said in an interview.

"I think industry's concern is that this will be the premier cloud contract, the flagship one, and that other parts of DoD will gravitate to it," he added. "So, I think whoever wins the contract is likely to have a real advantage in the marketplace going forward but not necessarily a decisive one."

The desire to award a multibillion-dollar, two-year cloud contract was largely set into motion after Secretary of Defense James Mattis visited Silicon Valley last year.

Federal defense agencies widely use Microsoft's server software, which integrates easily with the company's Azure public cloud, and among employees, Windows is the most popular operating system, Leigh Madden, Microsoft's general manager of defense, told CNBC in a prior interview.

"I think it certainly should make a difference," he said.

Similarly, IBM has worked alongside the military for decades.

"We look forward to submitting a thoughtful, comprehensive proposal for a JEDI cloud that will serve the long-term needs of America's men and women in uniform," Sam Gordy, IBM's Federal general manager, said in a statement.

In the midst of all this, President Donald Trump has attacked Amazon on Twitter, particularly as he rails against The Washington Post, which is owned by Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, for the newspaper's coverage of his administration.

A Vanity Fair report said the Trump administration might try to "cancel Amazon's pending contract" with the Pentagon, but the department maintains that there has been no political pressure from the White House on who should win the multibillion-dollar deal.

U.S. Navy Commander Patrick Evans, a Department of Defense spokesperson, reiterated that the Pentagon's process is "transparent" and will remain "a full and open competition."

"No companies were pre-selected. We have no favorites, and we want the best solution for the department," Evans said.

Similarly, chief Pentagon spokesperson Dana White also addressed speculation Thursday that Amazon was in the lead to take the lucrative defense contract.

"The secretary has been very clear that we need to be good stewards of the American people's money," White said. "So, nothing is taken for granted and nothing is presumed. We will get a full, open and transparent competition, and this is the first of many competitions with respect to the cloud."

The Pentagon is scheduled to award the contract in September.

— CNBC's Jordan Novet contributed to this report.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/07/26/pentagon-takes-step-closer-to-awarding-10-billion-cloud-contract.html

Sur le même sujet

8 octobre 2020 | International, C4ISR

Meggitt Training Systems changes name to InVeris Training Solutions
Joe Gould WASHINGTON ― The live-fire and virtual weapons training company Meggitt Training Systems is rebranding to InVeris Training Solutions, the company announced Wednesday. The Suwanee, Ga., firm, is shedding the name of its former parent company, Meggitt Plc., which sold the former subsidiary to private investment firm Pine Island Capital Partners LLC for $146 million in July. The new name is meant to connote trust and integrity, the company said. Pine Island's partners include former former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen, former Senate Minority Leader Tom Daschle, former House Minority Leader Dick Gephardt and former Undersecretary of Defense for Policy Michele Flournoy. Partner Clyde Tuggle, a former Coca-Cola executive, serves as interim CEO for InVeris, and Chambliss ― a partner at Pine Island ― is non-executive chairman for InVeris. Chambliss, now with Washington law firm DLA Piper, represented Georgia as a Republican and served on the armed services and intelligence committees before retiring from Congress nearly six years ago. He became aware of the company now known as InVeris while serving in Congress and said it was a natural fit for Pine Island because of his partners' backgrounds in the defense space. “We clearly understood at the time of the purchase back on July 1 that we were buying a company that is the gold standard when it comes to providing training for the United States military as well as to international clients in the same arena,” Chambliss said. “Going forward, we think that clearly we have the opportunity, number one, to provide the resources to what is now known as InVeris to expand from a technology standpoint the products that we have been making for years, and to further develop and bring those products into the 21st Century.” The company, which employs roughly 450 people, will retain its ownership of its legacy brands, FATS (a line of virtual systems) and Caswell technologies. The company continues to work on the U.S. Army's Engagement Skills Trainer II contract and Squad Advanced Marksmanship-Trainer program, as well as the U.S. Marine Corps' Indoor Simulated Marksmanship Trainer, according to Vice President of Strategy, Sales and Marketing Andrea Czop. It's also fielded derivatives of those systems to the Navy and Air Force. The company has fielded over 15,000 live-fire ranges and 5,100 virtual training systems globally in its 90-year history. It also has clients in more than 55 countries―including programs of record in Canada, Australia and the U.K. for more than 25 years. Foreign sales are key to its growth plans, company executives say. “We continue to be very active with all those international customers, and we're growing,” said Czop. “There are a lot of opportunities for us right now, and the focus is our international strategy.” https://www.defensenews.com/2020/10/07/meggitt-training-systems-changes-name-to-inveris-training-solutions/
25 juin 2020 | International, Aérospatial, C4ISR

Peraton to provide SATCOM for US Central Command
Nathan Strout Peraton will provide commercial satellite communications services for U.S. Central Command after receiving a new $56 million contract, the company announced June 18. Under the contract, which was awarded by the Space Force's Future Commercial SATCOM Acquisition program, Peraton will provide mission support for mobile platforms It will also provide bandwidth for mission operations, survivability, and diversification within the area of responsibility. “Peraton has served as a trusted solution partner to U.S. Central Command for over 10 years and is proud to continue providing satellite-based services tailored to their specific mission requirements,” said David Myers, president, Peraton Communications sector. “As a neutral technology agnostic mission capability integrator, Peraton takes great pride in developing solutions that leverage the best available spacecraft and network platforms from across the commercial satellite industry.” The $56 million contract for Central Command SATCOM services follows a $219 million contract awarded to Peraton earlier this year. Announced March 3, that five-year contract required the company to secure commercial satellite services for U.S. Africa Command and its mission partners in the region. That task order was the first of its kind to be awarded under the Future Commercial SATCOM Acquisition program. https://www.c4isrnet.com/battlefield-tech/space/2020/06/23/peraton-to-acquire-satcom-for-us-central-command/
11 mai 2021 | International, Naval

Navy Orders Five New Utility Landing Craft - Seapower
ARLINGTON, Va. — The U.S. Navy has ordered five more of its new utility landing craft (LCU) for its amphibious warfare forces. Naval Sea Systems Command awarded Swiftships of Morgan City, Louisiana, a $59.3 million modification to a previously awarded...

Toutes les nouvelles