As the Pentagon mumbles on the cloud about the stall of the Jedi project with Microsoft
While the Jedi project remains dormant, the Pentagon is looking for alternatives for missions that need the cloud now
The Pentagon seeks alternatives to the Jedi project awarded last year to Microsoft but suspended by the US Federal Complaints Court following Amazon's appeal.
While the takeover of the cloud for the Department of Defense corporate defense infrastructure remains suspended by the court, the Pentagon is exploring cloud alternatives for sets of critical defense missions that can't wait any longer.
After months of delays for the ongoing judicial battle, the long-awaited Jedi cloud contract will be neither irrelevant nor eventual when it finally arrives, Pentagon Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy said earlier this week.
While the Jedi project is in legal limbo, the Department of Defense is doing everything it can to lay the groundwork for swift adoption as soon as the judge allows.
All the details.
THE JEDI PROJECT
Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (Jedi) refers to the Dod's plan to consolidate many of its 500+ cloud contracts into a single infrastructure. The contract could reach $ 10 billion. The project is part of a wider digital modernization of the Pentagon aimed at making it more technologically agile.
The cloud computing project will make it possible to store and process large amounts of data. Allowing the US military to improve communications with soldiers on the battlefield and use artificial intelligence to improve combat capabilities.
JEDI CONTRACT IN STAND-BY FROM FEBRUARY
When the Federal Complaints Court ordered the DoD to stop working with Microsoft on the Jedi project in February to review Amazon's appeal, the department focused on finding alternative clouds for services and commands, Dana Deasy explained.
FOR THE FAULT OF AMAZON
In fact, last November , Amazon filed a complaint with the Washington court against the Pentagon's decision to award the contract to Microsoft .
Amazon Web Services, the cloud computing division of Amazon given by favorite, has blamed the US president's repeated public and private attacks against Amazon and its CEO for failing to award the order. Last February, the judge temporarily suspended Microsoft's work on the Jedi.
MICROSOFT'S VICTORY REAFFIRMED
With Jedi suspended by the Washington court, the Pentagon is unable to determine when he will be able to return to work on it. "The judicial process is a factor that we don't control, so I won't say it now, when I think it will end," the IOC Deasy said. “I think we have done all the right things now? Have we presented all the right documentation that, I believe, will allow us to move forward? Yup."
In fact , at the beginning of September the United States Department of Defense reconfirmed Microsoft's victory, after completing a complete re-evaluation of the proposals received.
Despite the reaffirmed winner, the result of a full reassessment by the US Department of Defense, the contract remains pending.
In fact, the decision of the judge that accepted Amazon's request to temporarily suspend the project last February is in force.
ALTERNATIVES TO JEDI
While the legal battle persists, the Pentagon is looking for alternatives to the Jedi for key functions – both business and military – that must now move to the cloud.
“Cloud, to me, has always been the warfighter's support first,” said Deasy. "When we were put on hold with Jedi, that didn't mean we would stop working to find ways to support the military."
At the same time, the Pentagon is also making sure it can quickly switch between those interim solutions to Jedi as soon as it becomes available.
A PROBLEMATIC STOP
But the legal stand-by of the Jedi project risks being a problem for the American defense. If it's ok for a short time, it becomes a concern the longer Deasy said. "Over time, it starts to get problematic because now we are starting to set up many different solutions in different environments, when then you have to go back and solve in a corporate way," the Pentagon IOC said.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/il-pentagono-sta-cercando-alternative-cloud-in-attesa-dello-sblocco-del-progetto-jedi/ on Sun, 04 Oct 2020 06:21:34 +0000.