Amazon's Bid to Recover JEDI Cloud Computing Contract Stays Alive -- Update
April 28 2021 - 6:25PM
Dow Jones News
By John D. McKinnon
WASHINGTON -- Amazon.com Inc.'s bid to win back the Pentagon's
JEDI cloud computing contract stayed alive Wednesday as a federal
judge rejected motions by the Defense Department and Microsoft
Corp. to dismiss much of Amazon's challenge of the contract
award.
Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith of the U.S. Court of Federal
Claims rejected the motions, according to a court docket entry. Her
opinion and order in the case weren't made public immediately,
making the extent of the government's legal defeat unclear.
The move is significant nonetheless because it opens the door to
continued protracted court battles over the Joint Enterprise
Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract.
Some Pentagon officials have suggested in recent months that the
Defense Department might have to consider other approaches to
obtaining enterprise-level cloud services, rather than pursuing
further years of litigation over the long-delayed JEDI
contract.
The Pentagon didn't immediately respond to a request for
comment.
Amazon has sought to blame its loss in part on improper
political interference in the deal under President Donald
Trump.
In a statement Wednesday, Amazon's cloud division, Amazon Web
Services, said that it was pleased with the court ruling.
"AWS continues to be the superior technical choice, the less
expensive choice, and would provide the best value to the DoD and
the American taxpayer," the company said.
Microsoft communications executive Frank Shaw dismissed the
decision as a procedural ruling.
"Not once, but twice, professional procurement staff at the DoD
chose Microsoft after a thorough review," he said. "We've continued
for more than a year to do the internal work necessary to move
forward on JEDI quickly, and we continue to work with DoD, as we
have for more than 40 years, on mission critical initiatives."
Amazon unexpectedly lost its bid for JEDI in 2019 and filed a
bid protest alleging that the Pentagon improperly decided the award
and considered improper factors, including political influence.
Amazon was originally regarded as the favorite to win the JEDI
contract, which is estimated to be worth as much as $10 billion
over a decade.
Amazon contended in its bid protest that the Pentagon unfairly
evaluated the two tech companies' proposals and that the process
was influenced by Mr. Trump's public criticisms of the JEDI
project, Amazon itself and its founder, Jeff Bezos. Mr. Trump
criticized Mr. Bezos for the coverage of his administration in the
Washington Post, which Mr. Bezos bought in 2013. The Post says its
editorial decisions are independent.
Judge Campbell-Smith in 2020 stayed the case while the Pentagon
weighed changes to the project that could address some of Amazon's
objections.
The Pentagon ultimately upheld Microsoft as the winner. Amazon
contended that the Pentagon's reconsideration should have been much
broader, saying it amounted to a "do-over."
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 28, 2021 18:10 ET (22:10 GMT)
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