Microsoft protests Amazon's $10 billion government cloud computing contract

It’s the same old story: Government hands out a multi-billion contract to one tech giant, only to see another tech giant complain about the process. But no sooner had we put the JEDI contract out of our minds and Amazon and Microsoft are, once again, at each other’s throats. Washington Technology, (via The Verge) reports that Microsoft has filed a complaint after the NSA awarded a $10 billion contract to Amazon Web Services. The project, codenamed WildAndStormy, of which details are not widely available, but apparently involves the provision of cloud computing technology to the wider intelligence community.

Microsoft has lodged a complaint with the Government Accountability Office, reportedly claiming that AWS’ product was not properly evaluated. The Windows giant feels that in a side-by-side comparison of its tech versus that of Amazon’s, it would win, and feels the process here wasn’t very fair. The GAO has until October 29th to respond to Microsoft’s complaint, and it’s likely that this will not be the end of the pair’s war of digital attrition. As reported by NextGov, an NSA spokesperson said that any response will be “in accordance with appropriate federal regulations.”