Amazon Claims Pentagon's JEDI Overhaul Keeps Microsoft in Driver's Seat -- Update
March 24 2020 - 9:53PM
Dow Jones News
By John D. McKinnon
WASHINGTON-- Amazon.com Inc. accused the Pentagon of seeking to
manipulate its review of a huge cloud-computing deal to steer the
award to rival Microsoft Corp.
In a court filing made public Tuesday, Amazon urged a federal
judge to require the Defense Department to conduct a broader review
than it has proposed.
Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith of the U.S. Court of Federal
Claims already halted work on the Joint Enterprise Defense
Infrastructure, citing allegations by Amazon of contract
irregularities.
In response, the Pentagon sought a halt to temporary court
proceedings, saying it needed time to rethink certain aspects of
the project.
The Pentagon last year awarded the contract, expected to be
worth up to $10 billion over a decade, to Microsoft--triggering the
lawsuit challenging the decision by Amazon.
The Pentagon's move to pause the court proceedings opens the
door to possible changes in the deal, particularly on pricing
evaluations that Amazon said were unfair.
But in Amazon's response Tuesday to the Pentagon's proposed
delay, the online giant said the Pentagon's plan to reconsider only
a narrow range of issues is aimed at preserving Microsoft's
award.
A Pentagon spokesman said the department believes the award to
Microsoft was based on a fair and unbiased process, and disagrees
with Amazon's arguments.
"Our goal remains to get this much-needed capability to the
warfighter as quickly as possible, in compliance with the law and
the court," Lt. Col. Robert Carver said in a statement.
Amazon's cloud unit, Amazon Web Services, or AWS, was long
considered the favorite to win the huge contract, but lost out to
Microsoft in a decision that Amazon contends was tainted by
political influence from President Trump.
"The Government should not be permitted to gerrymander the
corrective action to preserve the illusion that Microsoft offered
the lowest price while simultaneously perpetuating competitive
impediments for AWS," Amazon said in its filing.
Mr. Trump has blamed Amazon founder Jeff Bezos for unfavorable
coverage of his administration in the Washington Post, which Mr.
Bezos bought in 2013. The Post says its editorial decisions are
independent.
Microsoft didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
Microsoft has said it believes the DoD made the correct decision,
and supported the Pentagon's decision to reconsider a small number
of factors.
In a statement, an Amazon representative said there were
problems with the DoD's initial decision that the Pentagon's
proposal doesn't address.
"Instead of addressing the breadth of problems in its proposed
corrective action, the DoD's proposal focuses only on providing
Microsoft a 'do-over' on its fatally flawed bid while preventing
AWS from adjusting its own pricing in response to the DoD's new
storage criteria," the representative said.
Write to John D. McKinnon at john.mckinnon@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
March 24, 2020 21:38 ET (01:38 GMT)
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