Microsoft has prevailed against the likes of Amazon, IBM, and Oracle in securing the Pentagon’s JEDI (Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure) Cloud contract, which puts the company in charge of public cloud resources for the U.S. Defense Department. The agreement has an estimated worth of $10 billion and essentially cements Azure as one of the leading cloud computing services, alongside Amazon’s AWS.
Early in the process Amazon was seen as the favorite, partly because its AWS business won a deal with the CIA in 2013. Also Amazon had been certified at the highest existing security clearance level, while Microsoft sought to catch up. Other, smaller cloud rivals like IBM and Oracle were kicked out earlier in the process, which has been contentious and delayed.