NSA re-awards multibillion-dollar cloud contract award to AWS

Microsoft protested contract award last year, claiming that NSA misevaluated proposals

The USA's National Security Agency (NSA) has re-awarded a $10 billion cloud computing contract to AWS, after the Agency was forced to reassess bid submissions based on the best value sourcing method.

Detailed terms and conditions of the project, codenamed 'Wild and Stormy,' are not known, but it is allegedly part of the NSA's effort to modernise its principal classified data repository. The project should make it easier for the security agency to deal with growing datasets without having to worry about storage.

The NSA launched the tender process for Wild and Stormy in November 2020. It awarded the contract to AWS in July 2021, using a two-phased best-value trade-off approach.

Both AWS and Microsoft reached the second round, but the NSA preferred AWS' bid.

Microsoft challenged the decision, filing a complaint with the US Government Accountability Office (GAO). The company alleged that the NSA misjudged bids on technical, managerial and overall pricing factors.

The GAO upheld Microsoft's appeal and pointed out flaws in evaluation of the bids. It directed the NSA to re-evaluate proposals from both firms.

The AWS deal was to be cancelled if Microsoft won the re-run. However, the NSA chose AWS once more.

"NSA recently awarded a contract to Amazon Web Services that delivers cloud computing services to support the Agency's mission," an NSA spokesperson told Nextgov. They added that the contract is part of the NSA's Hybrid Compute Initiative, which aims to modernise and meet the Agency's robust processing and analytical requirements.

According to the representative, the Agency reevaluated the offers from both firms and made a new best value decision in picking AWS, consistent with GAO's instructions.

"We're honoured that after thorough review, the NSA selected AWS as the cloud provider for the Hybrid Compute Initiative," an AWS spokesperson said.

Microsoft has opted not to protest the contract for a second time, according to reports.

This is not the first time Amazon and Microsoft have clashed over a major US government contract.

The two companies fought fiercely in US courts for the military's $10 billion JEDI cloud project, before the US Department of Defense (DoD) cancelled it 'due to evolving requirements, increased cloud conversancy, and industry advances'.

The Department said that at the time that Amazon and Microsoft were the only two vendors capable of meeting the Pentagon's cloud requirements.