Microsoft signed the cloud contract for hundreds of millions dollars with intelligence of the USA

In May, 2018 Microsoft signed the cloud contract which will bring to the company hundreds of millions dollars with U.S. intelligence. Besides, this transaction will give to software giant advantage in the tender of the Pentagon for providing cloud services. 

Under the terms of the agreement, 17 intelligence agencies of the USA and offices, including CIA, will use a cloud Azure Government and also solutions Office 365 and Dynamics in addition to other products of Microsoft which are already set in these bodies (Windows 10 Microsoft Office etc.).

The company also achieved special safety certificates thanks to which its cloud services can store the confidential Ministries of Justice of data, Administrations of veterans, Bureau on control and observance of the immigration and customs legislation and. Each governmental body has an access to Azure, specified in Microsoft.

Microsoft signed the cloud contract for hundreds of millions dollars with U.S. intelligence

The signed contract updates and expands the former agreement between the Office of the director of the national intelligence (Office of the Director of National Intelligence) and Dell which licenses products of Microsoft for the federal government. This device manages work of Central Intelligence Agency, National Security Agency, the Ministry of Defence and other bodies which, according to the new transaction, will independently make the decision on whether to implement cloud services of Microsoft and when.

For Microsoft it is a huge victory. This some kind of awakening. The prospecting community is concerned that it is impossible to use cloud services from one supplier — Dana Barnes, the vice president of the company supervising work with defense structures notes.

But a pecuniary benefit in this case — not the main victory of Microsoft. The arrangement with investigation will give it advantages in fight for much more large deal — creation of a special cloud service for the Ministry of Defence. The largest technology companies participate in this tender, contract amount, as expected, will exceed billions of dollars.

The Pentagon is going to connect 3.4 million users and 4 million devices to cloud infrastructure for the purpose of obtaining tactical advantages on fields of military operations and uses of the developing technologies. Including Microsoft, several contractors as the victory of one contractor of the project "will strangle innovations" urged the Pentagon to select the IT companies applying for this contract and will increase risks of security. 

Applicants for this order consider that conditions of the tender are created so that won against Amazon it. The company works with many government agencies and also with all prospecting community thanks to the contract with CIA for $600 million.

We studied what CIA reached in terms of availability and data security, and it very much impresses — the United States Secretary of Defense James Mattis on listenings in the Congress in April, 2018 said, speaking about results of cooperation of investigation with Amazon.

Microsoft claims that in comparison with Amazon the company offers the clients the important advantages connected with opportunities of artificial intelligence, recognition of a voice, the translation of the text from one language on another and hybrid cloud environments. 

Use of the data analysis opportunities offered Microsoft in Azure by means of artificial intelligence it is very valuable to an intelligence community — Dana Barnes noted.

As reported the Bloomberg agency in May, 2018, Microsoft does business with state clients long ago: for five previous years the relevant contracts for the amount of $1.3 billion from which the amount in the amount of nearly $1 billion^[1] fell to the share of the Ministry of Defence were signed]

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