Author Topic: Microsoft Awarded Five-Year $1.76 Billion IDIQ Contract by DoD  (Read 132 times)

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Microsoft Awarded Five-Year $1.76 Billion IDIQ Contract by DoD
« on: January 15, 2019, 02:30:56 AM »
Microsoft was awarded a $1,760,000,000 indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity (IDIQ) contract under the DoD Enterprise Software Initiative (ESI) to provide the Department of Defense with Microsoft Enterprise Services in accordance with the Defense Federal Acquisition Regulation Supplement, Section 208.74.

The services Microsoft will provide the DoD for the five years, the ordering period of the contract will also cover the needs of the Coast Guard and the Intelligence Community, on a worldwide basis, with a contract completion date of January 10, 2024.

According to the Department of Defense press release, "Support includes Microsoft product engineering services for software developers and product teams to leverage a range of proprietary resources and source-code, and Microsoft premier support for tools, knowledge database, problem resolution assistance, and custom changes to Microsoft source-code when applicable."

Through the IDIQ contract it was awarded, Microsoft will provide the U.S. Department of Defense with support for the following engineering and technology products:

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■ Enterprise-wide and organization-specific architectural planning, solution design and innovation, and infrastructure optimization

■ Implementation, deployment and knowledge transfer of Microsoft products, cloud technologies, and network solutions support

■ Access to technical support, problem resolution, solution workshops, strategic guidance

■ Assistance to customers with technical issues pertaining to developing cloud, intranet, internet strategies, prototyping and implementation and development of solutions spanning infrastructure and application areas.

As detailed on the U.S. General Services Administrations' website:

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The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contracts provide for an indefinite quantity of services for a fixed time. They are used when GSA can’t determine, above a specified minimum, the precise quantities of supplies or services that the government will require during the contract period. IDIQs help streamlines the contract process and speed service delivery.

It's also important to mention that the DoD will only deliver funds to Microsoft "on individual task orders using primarily operations and maintenance funds."

Microsoft already providing cloud services to 7,000 US agencies

According to Microsoft, more than 80% of  U.S. government agencies already use its Azure cloud platform via the Microsoft Azure Government offering, specifically designed to match the requirements of U.S. federal, state, and local government entities.

Moreover, 7,000 federal, state, and local government agencies use Microsoft's cloud platform, totaling over 6 million government users serviced via six government-only datacenters and two distinct DoD-specific cloud regions.

At the moment when the above report was issued by Microsoft, its Azure Government cloud platform had "58 compliance certifications, including FedRAMP High, DFARS, and IRS 1075 – more than any other cloud provider."

Microsoft's push into the government cloud storage services couldn't come at a better time considering that US federal spending is estimated to reach at least $6.5B during 2019 and that the US government's cloud adoption is accelerating to centralize all its data and services.

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