17 intelligence agencies in the United States have chosen cloud giant
Microsoft to provide them with a range of cloud-related services. Microsoft, which has head offices in Richmond, Washington, United States, offers cloud-based solutions through its Azure platform. Azure offers a wealth of options including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) alongside compute, storage, analytics and database functions. The company also offers ‘Azure Government’ cloud services which are designed to advance US government activities. Several reports have suggested the deal is worth “hundreds of millions of dollars”.
The intelligence agencies involved will leverage the ‘Azure Government’ as it has been adapted or federal and local government purposes. The deal represents a continuation of existing agreements between the agencies, Dell and Microsoft, alongside additional enhancements. The move improves Microsoft’s ability to compete with companies like IBM, Oracle and AWS for the Pentagon's upcoming ‘Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure’ (JEDI) cloud contract – a ten-year contract that represents the intelligence communities largest ever investment.
“The IC is responsible for handling some of the toughest problems facing the nation, harnessing the intelligence derived from the most sensitive data at unprecedented scale,” explained Microsoft Corporate Vice President, Industry, Toni Townes-Whitley on the company’s blog. “This new agreement provides the IC with a vehicle for accessing the latest Microsoft technologies to further empower its agencies, optimize operations and modernize infrastructure. This agreement positions Microsoft to help the IC achieve its mission at home and around the world with a trusted cloud and modern workplace solution that keeps critical data secure, while delivering advanced capabilities including artificial intelligence, machine learning and large-scale data analysis.”
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