Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#1

Post by dbg31415 » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:29 PM UTC

Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'
thehill.com

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#2

Post by reallydontask » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:50 PM UTC

This reminds me of a time where the Department of Work and Pensions botched a bid for a Universal Jobmatch system and ended up awarding the contract, to methods consulting, re-tendering the contract and paying close to £1m to methods consulting

I would not be surprised if something similar happened here, although the payout would likely be far higher and I'm in no way comparing Methods Consulting to Microsoft.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#3

Post by hpoe » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:51 PM UTC

Didn't Oracle just sue the DoD claiming they wrote the requirements in such a way that only Amazon could get it?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#4

Post by arkitaip » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:54 PM UTC

I wonder how often system implementation delays are caused by excessive government contract litigation? How much does it cost taxpayers because Amazon or Oracle are litigious?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#5

Post by ckastner » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:54 PM UTC

What if Microsoft were to assume and any all risk from a possible judgment not in their favor?

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#6

Post by foolfoolz » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:54 PM UTC

this kind of stuff is such an american way of doing things.

- bid for contracts that enables government to make some real progress

- lose

- sue because you lost, claim winner can’t start until your suit is over

- introduce 1-2 year delay of waiting while your complaint is processed

and people wonder why china gets things done in a quarter of the time

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#7

Post by robmiller » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:55 PM UTC

hpoe wrote: post #3

Didn't Oracle just sue the DoD claiming they wrote the requirements in such a way that only Amazon could get it?

Wouldn't surprise me. I heard the person who wrote the legislation left when they were completed and took a job with AWS.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#8

Post by sp332 » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

hpoe wrote: post #3

Didn't Oracle just sue the DoD claiming they wrote the requirements in such a way that only Amazon could get it?

I hadn't heard of that side of the argument. According to https://www.cnbc.com/2019/11/05/oracle-argues-jedi-defense-c..., Oracle had complained about this before, then kinda dropped it, then revived it one week after Amazon launched their new complaint.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#9

Post by CrankyBear » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:56 PM UTC

This is standard procedure in these kind of contract fights. I get so sick and tired of government IT contract squabbles. They drag on for years, little usually changes, and, in the meantime the work doesn't get done.

Re: Amazon asks court to halt Microsoft's work on Pentagon 'war cloud'

#10

Post by lagadu » Thu, Jan 23, 2020, 3:57 PM UTC

foolfoolz wrote: post #6

this kind of stuff is such an american way of doing things. - bid for contracts that enables government to make some real progress - lose - sue because you lost, claim winner can’t start until your suit is over - introduce 1-2 year delay of waiting while your complaint is processed and people wonder why china gets things done in a quarter of the time

Yeah, they get things done because they're a totalitarian, completely opaque regime. I'll take western governments with all their faults and inneficiencies, thank you.