Oracle’s JEDI Appeal Continues

Oracle’s battle for the Pentagon’s Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure contract isn’t over, despite the contract’s award to Microsoft in October.

In a Nov. 19 legal filing, Oracle advanced its appeal of the Pentagon’s JEDI contract decision, asking the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit to force the Defense Department to rebid the JEDI contract.

Oracle seeks to overturn the U.S. Court of Federal Claims’ decision against the company, calling the decision “a flawed result” that did not properly address several legal issues.

“A remand to [the Department of Defense] to resolicit JEDI lawfully and restore the public trust in this high dollar acquisition is both required and needed,” Oracle said in the filing.

Oracle filed its initial lawsuit against the Pentagon over the JEDI contract in December 2018, nine months before the Pentagon ultimately awarded JEDI to Microsoft. Oracle's bid for JEDI—along with a bid from IBM—ultimately did not meet the Pentagon’s gate criteria for the contract and were ruled out in April.

Oracle’s appeal contends the U.S. Court of Federal Claims erred in several ways, including its finding that Oracle did not suffer “competitive prejudice” over the Defense Department’s decision to issue JEDI to a single cloud provider. Oracle also disagreed with the court’s decision on the Pentagon’s use of gate criteria and “numerous ethical improprieties present in the procurement.”

Attorneys for Amazon and the Defense Department responded to Oracle’s appeal in separate legal filings on Dec. 26. The filings encourage the court to uphold the Court of Federal Claims ruling. In addition, Amazon’s attorneys argue Oracle’s allegations that Amazon hired former government employees and obtained an unfair advantage are “mooted,” given that Amazon did not win JEDI.

It is unclear how or whether Oracle’s JEDI case will impact Amazon’s JEDI lawsuit.

In November, Amazon filed a legal protest in the Court of Federal Claims, alleging politics wrongfully influenced the Pentagon’s decision to award JEDI to Microsoft.