Tag: Impact Level 6

Microsoft’s Azure Government Top Secret Now Available

Microsoft has announced the general availability of its Azure Government Top Secret, in the company’s bid to gain more government contracts.

Government contracts are some of the most lucrative contracts for tech companies, including cloud providers. Needless to say, however, combining cloud options with classified and top secret information presents very unique challenges. At one point, Amazon had a clear lead, being the only company to have achieved the Pentagon’s Impact Level 6 certification. Microsoft closed that gap in late 2019, and has been accelerating its efforts to get government cloud contracts ever since.

The company has now announced its Azure Government Top Secret is now generally available, aimed squarely at the needs of government agencies with the strictest security requires.

“We’ve worked in close collaboration with the US Government to build a cloud portfolio that serves the national security mission and empowers leaders across the Intelligence Community (IC), Department of Defense (DoD), and Federal Civilian agencies to innovate securely wherever the mission requires and at all data classifications, with a continuum of technology from on-premises to cloud to the tactical edge,” writes Tom Keane Corporate Vice President, Azure Global, Microsoft Azure.

“Launching with more than 60 initial services and more coming soon, we’ve achieved the Authorization to Operate (ATO) of Azure Government Top Secret infrastructure in accordance with Intelligence Community Directive (ICD) 503 and facilities accredited to meet the ICD 705 standards. These new air-gapped regions of Azure will accelerate the delivery of national security workloads classified at the US Top Secret level. In addition, we now have 73 services in Azure Government Secret, and we continue to bring new services into the boundary aligned to mission priorities.”

Microsoft’s work to create an Azure solution to meet the government’s toughest requirements should be a major help in its efforts to go toe-to-toe with AWS.

August 17, 2021
Not So Fast: Amazon Likely to Win Defense Contract Lawsuit

U.S. Court of Federal Claims Judge Patricia Campbell-Smith says Amazon is likely to win its lawsuit challenging Microsoft’s win of a coveted Pentagon contract.

Last year Microsoft surprised Amazon, and industry insiders alike, by securing the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure Cloud (JEDI) contract from the U.S. Department of Defense (DOD), worth some $10 billion. Many believed Amazon was all but guaranteed to win the contract, given its long history of working on sensitive projects for the government. In addition, at the time the contract was awarded, Amazon was the only company to have the coveted Impact Level 6 security clearance, although Microsoft was awarded it shortly thereafter.

Amazon almost immediately launched a lawsuit to overturn the contract award, claiming improper interference by President Trump, who allegedly told then-Defense Secretary James Mattis to “screw Amazon.” Amazon was successful in getting a temporary injunction, preventing Microsoft from beginning work on the contract, which was slated to begin February 13.

According to U.S. News & World Report, although she did not address Trump’s comments, “Campbell-Smith wrote Amazon ‘is likely to succeed on the merits of its argument that the DOD improperly evaluated’ a Microsoft price scenario. She added Amazon is likely to show that Microsoft’s scenario was not ‘technically feasible’ as the Pentagon assessed.”

Given that Microsoft is already counting on a halo effect from winning the contract, having the Pentagon’s decision overturned would be a big loss for the company.

March 10, 2020
Amazon Wins Temporary JEDI Injunction

A federal judge has sided with Amazon imposing a temporary injunction preventing Microsoft from working on the Pentagon’s JEDI contract.

Microsoft won the Pentagon’s coveted Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract in October 2019, pulling off what was seen as an upset against rival Amazon. Industry experts had believed Amazon was all but guaranteed to win the contract, given its long history of working with classified government data. In fact, it wasn’t until after Microsoft won the award that it was granted the Impact Level 6 clearance, allowing it to store sensitive data in the cloud, rather than air-gapped computers.

Following Microsoft’s win, Amazon immediately decried what it saw as bias and interference from President Trump. According to former Defense Secretary James Mattis’ biography, President Trump called him in 2018 and told him to “screw Amazon” over the JEDI contract.

Amazon almost immediately filed a lawsuit against the Trump administration in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims. In the meantime, it also filed for a temporary injunction to prevent Microsoft from working on the contract until the matter could be settled. With a judge now granting the injunction, it appears the JEDI saga is far from over.

February 13, 2020
CIA Opens Door For Amazon Rivals to Bid On Cloud Contracts

Bloomberg is reporting that the CIA is “planning to hire multiple companies for lucrative cloud computing deals,” a move that will likely hurt Amazon.

Amazon was the first company to gain the coveted Impact Level 6 security certification, allowing it to store classified data in the cloud. This gave the company a huge advantage when bidding on government contracts involving sensitive data. However, Microsoft ultimately beat out Amazon for the Pentagon’s JEDI contract, worth some $10 billion. In December 2019, Microsoft also became the second company to gain the Impact Level 6 certification, opening the door to more competition for Amazon.

With the CIA’s latest move, however, that door has been flung wide open, giving multiple companies the chance to compete with the leading cloud provider for lucrative and prestigious contracts.

According to Bloomberg, “the government said the contracts could last up to 15 years with a five-year base period and two five-year renewals. The estimated award date is September 2020.

“The CIA has previously indicated that it intended to spend ‘tens of billions’ of dollars on cloud computing, Bloomberg has reported. It’s unclear whether the agency has finalized an amount it plans to spend.”

With analysts already predicting Microsoft could unseat Amazon as the reigning cloud leader, this latest report is not good news for Amazon. With Microsoft expecting a “halo effect” from the JEDI contact, Amazon may well find itself losing a considerable amount of government work.

February 6, 2020
Microsoft Acquires Pentagon Certification, Closes Gap With Amazon

According to the Washington Post, Microsoft has achieved Impact Level 6, the Pentagon’s highest IT security certification.

Prior to December 12, Amazon was the only company to have achieved Impact Level 6. The certification allows a company to store classified data in the cloud. Under normal circumstances, “defense and intelligence agencies typically use air-gapped, local computer networks to store sensitive data rather than the cloud-based systems that most companies now use to harness far-off data centers.”

As the Washington Post points out, the security clearance helps justify Microsoft beating Amazon for a lucrative Pentagon contract. Amazon, as well as many experts, thought the company was all but guaranteed to win the contract, in part because it was the only company to have Impact Level 6. In addition, the company has previously worked with the CIA, giving it valuable experience with sensitive or classified data. In spite of that, Microsoft managed to secure the contract, worth some $10 billion.

Amazon has maintained the bidding process was compromised by comments President Trump made and is challenging the results in court. In the meantime, having Impact Level 6 will only help Microsoft as it continues to challenge Amazon for government work.

December 26, 2019