Jedi are the main protagonists in the Star Wars universe. They are depicted as an ancient monastic, academic, meritocratic and paramilitary organization whose origin dates back to 25,000 BBY. There is another JEDI, which has not been around as long.
The Defense Department is considering two finalists in the $10 billion, decade-long JEDI cloud contract process. In spite of lawsuits, official protests and even back-channel complaining to the president, the two finalists are Microsoft and Amazon. "After evaluating all of the proposals received, Pentagon officials have made a competitive range determination for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud request for proposals, in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations.
The two companies within the competitive range will participate further in the procurement process, with two finalists being Microsoft and Amazon Web Services.
POTUS claims to be seriously considering looking at a Pentagon contract that's said to be worth up to $10 billion for Microsoft or Amazon. "I never had something where more people are complaining," Trump said, adding that he's going to take a close look at it. "We're getting tremendous complaints from other companies," Trump said in a press pool at the White House during a meeting with the prime minister of The Netherlands. "Some of the greatest companies in the world are complaining about it." He named Microsoft, Oracle, and IBM.
Since April, Microsoft and Amazon have been the only remaining competitors for the contract after IBM and Oracle were ruled out by the Defense Department. The contract, known as JEDI, is viewed as a marquee deal for the company that ultimately wins it, particularly as Microsoft and Amazon are aggressively pursuing government work for their expanding cloud units. While Trump didn't cite Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos by name on Thursday, the billionaire executive has been a constant source of frustration for the president. Bezos owns the Washington Post, which Trump regularly criticizes for its coverage of his administration. Trump also has gone after Amazon repeatedly for, as he claims, not paying its fair share of taxes and ripping off the U.S. Post Office.
Trump says he's looking into a Pentagon cloud contract for Amazon or Microsoft because 'we're getting tremendous complaints' https://cnb.cx/32x7KPu