Microsoft VP Asks AWS To ‘Stand Down’ On JEDI Cloud Protests

A Microsoft executive urged Amazon Web Services to “stand down on its litigation” 1 opposing the award of the military’s lucrative JEDI commercial cloud transformation contract, arguing the ongoing legal and administrative challenges are keeping the best tools out of the hands of U.S. warfighters. From a report:

The statement from Frank Shaw, Microsoft’s corporate vice president for communications, came in response to Amazon’s latest attempt to compel a re-evaluation of the potentially $10 billion contract won by Microsoft – a protest filed Monday directly with the Pentagon. The Defense Department’s “decision to source a Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract to deliver the latest advancements in enterprise cloud could be a great step forward,” Shaw said. “But only if Amazon gets out of the way.” Shaw repeated Microsoft’s now-common refrain against AWS: the cloud market leader bid too high, and it is now looking for a “re-do.” “This latest filing – filed with the DoD this time – is another example of Amazon trying to bog down JEDI in complaints, litigation and other delays designed to force a do-over to rescue its failed bid,” he said.