Pentagon cancels $10bn Jedi contract after Amazon challenge

Microsoft office building

The US Department of Defence (DoD) has cancelled its $10 billion (£7.2bn) cloud computing contract with Microsoft, pitting it back against Amazon for a renewed bidding war over the rights to develop the Pentagon’s long awaited cloud system.

The cancellation follows Amazon’s filing of a lawsuit against the decision to award the ‘Jedi’ contract to Microsoft in late 2019, a decision which it claims was improperly influenced by political pressure from then President...

7 July 2021 | Infrastructure

EU privacy body investigates use of American cloud services

A close up of the USA flag.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) has launched an investigation into the use of cloud services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft under Cloud II contracts by European Union (EU) institutions, bodies and agencies (EUIs).

It has also begun looking at the use of Microsoft Office 365 by the European Commission.

These investigations are part of the EDPS’ strategy for EU institutions to comply with the “Schrems II” Judgement so that ongoing...

8 June 2021 | Regulation & Government

Satya Nadella’s Microsoft Ignite keynote speech analysed: Cloud driving digital transformation

It is all but impossible to be a cloud CEO giving a keynote speech and not frame your discussion around the impact of Covid-19. As your event is virtual, caused by the pandemic, and powered by cloud, thoughts naturally turn to what will remain from the 'new normal' - and what needs to change.

Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, put forward his five-step plan for the next generation of innovation in the cloud. AI, edge and even blockchain featured heavily - along with a smattering of...

4 March 2021 | Infrastructure

10 charts which will change your perspective of Microsoft Azure’s growth

Microsoft Azure revenue grew 50% year-over-year in fiscal Q2, 2021, contributing to a 26% increase in server products and cloud services revenue According to the latest earnings call, more than 1,000 Microsoft customers now use Azure Arc to simplify hybrid management and run Azure services across on-premises, multi-cloud and at the edge Commercial cloud gross margins increased to 71% in the latest quarter, up from 67% a year earlier There are now more than 60 Azure regions globally,...

1 March 2021 | Infrastructure