Amazon files court complaint over CIA cloud deal
July 24, 2013
Grazed from FCW. Author: Frank Konkel.
Amazon Web Services has filed a complaint against the federal government in the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, challenging the need for and scope of corrective action taken by the Central Intelligence Agency in following recommendations made by the Government Accountability Office. GAO made the recommendations to the CIA in June in sustaining a bid protest filed in February by IBM after the CIA awarded AWS a contract worth up to $600 million over four years to build a private cloud for the entire intelligence community.
Taking the issue to the U.S. Court of Federal Claims – the final destination for some of the most contentious procurement cases – could help AWS avoid another bid protest from IBM if the CIA were to again award AWS the cloud contract, potentially expediting a resolution…
"We believe strongly that the CIA got it right the first time," said an AWS spokeswoman. "Providing true cloud computing services to the intelligence community requires a transformative approach with superior technology. We believe that the CIA selected AWS based on AWS’ technically superior, best value solution, which will allow the Agency to rapidly innovate while delivering the confidence and security assurance needed for mission-critical systems. We look forward to a fast resolution so the Agency can move forward with this important contract."…
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