An industry group that represents tech firms has asked Congress to intervene on the Pentagon’s JEDI cloud contract, according to a letter obtained by Nextgov.
The letter, from the IT Alliance for Public Sector, which represents 80 tech firms, expresses concerns about the single award contract saying it contrasts with industry best practice, and opens up the possibility of vendor lock-in.
The letter says: “Deployment of a single cloud conflicts with established best practices and industry trends in the commercial marketplace, as well as current law and regulation, which calls for the award of multiple task or delivery order contracts to the maximum extent practicable. Further, the speed of adoption of innovative commercial solutions, like cloud, is facilitated by the use of these best practices.”
The Pentagon plans to bid out the cloud infrastructure contract in Mid May and a second draft request for proposals was issued in April.