Pentagon | The Contracting Education Academy

May 28, 2020 By cs

What Google’s new contract reveals about the Pentagon’s evolving clouds

For one thing, it disproves fears that the massive JEDI contract meant one company would get all the work.

Tools and a console built with Google’s Anthos application management platform will allow the Defense Innovation Unit to manage apps on either of the cloud services heavily used by the Pentagon.

Google will build security-and app-management tools for the Pentagon’s Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), deepening the Silicon Valley giant’s military ties and illuminating the challenges facing the Defense Department’s drive to a multi-cloud environment.

Tools and a console built with the company’s Anthos application management platform will allow DIU to manage apps on either of the cloud services heavily used by the Pentagon: Microsoft Azure, which won the hotly contested JEDI cloud contract, and Amazon Web Services, or AWS, heavily used by DoD researchers, from a Google Cloud console.

Mike Daniels, vice president of government sales for Google Cloud services, said the company’s approach to security both complements and differs from those of Microsoft and AWS. Traditional “castle-and-moat” network security uses firewalls and virtual private networks to keep attackers on the other side of some sort of digital barrier. The higher security certification, the deeper and wider that moat. It works well enough in a single-cloud environment but less well in one with applications running in multiple clouds. It can also present problems when you’re dealing with an “extended workforce”: a bunch of people working from home or different locations.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.defenseone.com/technology/2020/05/what-googles-new-contract-reveals-about-pentagons-evolving-clouds/165524/

May 11, 2020 By cs

Amazon files another protest over JEDI contract

Amazon Web Services filed an agency protest with the Defense Department last week seeking what the company said was clarification over ambiguous pricing requirements in the amended JEDI solicitation.

The move comes as AWS’ case in federal court is on hold after a judge ordered the Defense Department to take corrective action to fix parts of the contract the Pentagon agreed were flawed when it made the award to Microsoft in last October.

In a statement regarding the protest, which is confidential, an AWS spokesperson told Nextgov the company took action only after the Defense Department refused to answer questions over multiple correspondences.

“AWS is committed to ensuring it receives a fair and objective review on an award decision that the Court found to be flawed. AWS repeatedly sought clarity from the DoD around ambiguous aspects of the amended solicitation and the DoD refused to answer our questions,” an AWS spokesperson said. “We simply want to ensure a common understanding of the DoD’s requirements and eliminate ambiguity that could impact a fair evaluation.”

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/05/amazon-files-another-protest-over-jedi-contract/165243/

April 27, 2020 By cs

OTAs given greater flexibility to foster innovation in coronavirus response

Defense Department leaders and agencies have been granted much-needed flexibility to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

**Click on image above to open memorandum.**

Last week, Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition & Sustainment Ellen Lord delegated approval authority for Other Transaction Agreements (OTAs) related to the coronavirus response, consistent with Section 13006 of the CARES Act.

In an April 5 memorandum, Under Secretary Lord designated approval authorities for OTA prototype projects and follow-on production contracts and agreements as follows:

Above $100 million, and up to $500 million, to the Directors of Defense Agencies/Field Activities with contracting authority, as well as the Director of the Defense Innovation Unit. This authority was otherwise vested in the Senior Procurement Executives (SPEs) of the Military Departments, the Director of the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (“DARPA”), and the Director of the Missile Defense Agency (MDA).
Above $500 million, to the SPEs of the Military Departments, and the Directors of DARPA and the MDA. This authority was otherwise restricted to the Under Secretaries for Acquisition & Sustainment and Research & Engineering. Approval authority for OT prototype actions between $100 million and $500 million may now be further delegated by the SPE or Director.

In addition, in lieu of providing 30 days’ advance notice to congressional defense committees of OTAs above $500 million that are related to COVID-19, Section 13006 permits Under Secretary Lord or the Under Secretary of Defense for Research & Engineering to provide notice as soon as practicable after the OTA’s commencement.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.insidegovernmentcontracts.com/2020/04/other-transaction-authorities-given-greater-flexibility-to-foster-innovation-in-coronavirus-response/

The Contracting Education Academy at Georgia Tech has established a webpage where all contract-related developments related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) are summarized. Find the page at: https://contractingacademy.gatech.edu/coronavirus-information-for-contracting-officers-and-contractors/

April 23, 2020 By cs

Judge grants Pentagon’s request for corrective action on JEDI cloud contract

Federal Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith has granted the Defense Department’s March request for a 120-day stay to take corrective action on parts of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, which it awarded to Microsoft in October.

Amazon Web Services, which protested the award, had asked the judge in previous motions to force the Pentagon to take more expansive correction action, accusing the government of attempting to “gerrymander” revisions to the procurement.

In the order, which is under seal, Campbell-Smith grants the Defense Department’s motion for remand so that “it may reconsider the aspects of the procurement challenged in this protest action,” though the 120-day remand could be lengthened or shortened upon motion and subsequent judge’s decision.

Keep reading this article at: https://www.nextgov.com/it-modernization/2020/04/judge-grants-pentagons-request-corrective-action-jedi-cloud-contract/164721/

April 22, 2020 By cs

Pentagon IG review finds DoD improperly disclosed JEDI information to AWS

The Defense Department improperly disclosed sensitive information about its JEDI Cloud contract decision to Amazon after the company lost out on the multibillion dollar award, according to a review of the hotly-contested procurement by the Pentagon’s inspector general.

**Click on image above to download DoD IG’s report.**

The findings — which also indicate DoD failed to redact Microsoft’s proprietary information in its disclosures to AWS — are part of a sweeping 313-page report the DoD IG released last week.

Overall, the review found that while two DoD officials committed ethical missteps as part of the contracting process, they likely did not have an impact on the department’s final decisions. The OIG also said the department’s acquisition processes for JEDI — including the decision to award the contract to a single vendor — were “reasonable” and “consistent with applicable law.”

On another key question: whether the White House inappropriately interfered with the procurement, OIG officials said they could not come to any definitive conclusions, because the Trump administration had asserted a “presidential communications privilege.” In response, Pentagon lawyers instructed Defense officials not to talk with the IG about any discussions they may have had with the White House about JEDI.

Keep reading this article at: https://federalnewsnetwork.com/defense-main/2020/04/pentagon-ig-review-finds-dod-improperly-disclosed-jedi-information-to-aws/

For one thing, it disproves fears that the massive JEDI contract meant one company would get all the work.

Amazon Web Services filed an agency protest with the Defense Department last week seeking what the company said was clarification over ambiguous pricing requirements in the amended JEDI solicitation.

Defense Department leaders and agencies have been granted much-needed flexibility to respond to the coronavirus pandemic.

Federal Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith has granted the Defense Department’s March request for a 120-day stay to take corrective action on parts of the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, which it awarded to Microsoft in October.

The Defense Department improperly disclosed sensitive information about its JEDI Cloud contract decision to Amazon after the company lost out on the multibillion dollar award, according to a review of the hotly-contested procurement by the Pentagon’s inspector general.

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