Aug 12, 2021 11:18:00

Amazon signs a trillion yen cloud contract with NSA, Microsoft protests

On August 10, 2021,

it was reported that the US National Security Agency (NSA) signed a cloud contract 'Wild and Stormy' with Amazon for 10 billion dollars (about 1.1 trillion yen). The deal came shortly after the US Department of Defense, which oversees the NSA, canceled a similar deal with Microsoft, and Microsoft is protesting the Government Accountability Office over the selection process.

NSA Awards Secret $ 10 Billion Contract to Amazon --Nextgov
https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2021/08/nsa-awards-secret-10-billion-contract-amazon/184390/

In familiar refrain, it's Amazon versus Microsoft for this $ 10B NSA cloud contract --Washington Technology

https://washingtontechnology.com/blogs/editors-notebook/2021/07/nsa-cloud-protest.aspx

According to Nextgov, an overseas media that reported this case, the details of the contract that NSA signed with Amazon are unknown, but it seems that NSA is part of an attempt to centrally manage key confidential data in the cloud. .. The NSA has long indicated its intention to introduce private cloud services to perform the processing of huge amounts of data.

The relationship between Amazon and government agencies dates back to 2013, when Amazon signed a contract to provide its cloud service 'Amazon Web Services (AWS) ' to the Central Information Authority (CIA) for $ 6 million (about 660,000). I tied it with (10,000 yen). In this contract, other intelligence agencies, including the NSA, also used AWS. In addition, Amazon is a cloud contract 'C2E' with the CIA to succeed in C2S in 2020, at the same time as other companies such as Google and Microsoft signed .

The contract was just after the Pentagon's $ 10 billion cloud contract 'Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) ' was canceled on July 6, 2021. Microsoft is protesting to the Government Accountability Office, saying there is a problem with the process of selecting a contract partner. The NSA said it would 'respond to protests in accordance with appropriate federal regulations.'

In the JEDI contract, while it is said that Amazon and Microsoft are the only companies that meet the requirements set by the Department of Defense, Microsoftwon the contract in October 2019 over the big favorite Amazon. However, Amazon was protesting that there was a problem with the selection process.

Amazon argues that the U.S. Department of Defense's cloud business bid competition was 'due to President Trump's political intervention'-GIGAZINE

A Microsoft spokeswoman told Nextgov, 'We will exercise our legal rights cautiously and responsibly based on the decision to protest through the Government Accountability Office.' The Government Accountability Office will make a decision on Microsoft's protest by October 29, 2021.