JEDI cloud deal down to AWS and Microsoft
A Defense Department probe into conflict of interest relating to its $10 billion cloud buy didn't find anything to derail the solicitation. An award could be coming in mid-July.
An internal Defense Department investigation has concluded that its $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure procurement was not tainted by conflict of interest, but DOD did find some possible ethical violations on the part of former staffers with ties to Amazon Web Services.
"The department's investigation has determined that there is no adverse impact on the integrity of the acquisition process. However, the investigation also uncovered potential ethical violations, which have been further referred to DOD IG," Department of Defense spokeswoman Elissa Smith told FCW.
The probe was launched in response to a lawsuit brought by Oracle alleging conflict of interest on the part of two former AWS employees whose work for DOD touched the controversial JEDI procurement. That lawsuit was stayed in order for the DOD probe to take place. Now that it is over, DOD will seek to lift the stay. There's no word yet on whether DOD will seek to have Oracle's lawsuit dismissed.
Smith would not comment further on the substance of the suspected ethical violations, referring FCW to the DOD inspector general for comment.
Delays in the procurement process have weighed on the expected award date, which has moved from April to mid-July at the earliest, Smith said.
Microsoft and AWS are now the only two companies vying for the contract as they meet all of the requirements listed in the proposal, Smith said. Oracle and IBM (which protested the JEDI solicitation but did not joint in Oracle's lawsuit) are now officially out of the running.
Bloomberg was first to report on the results of the internal investigation.