Amazon and Microsoft are reportedly the remaining companies in running for the Pentagon contract to bring in cloud services.
According to various reports, IBM and Oracle were reportedly ruled out for a U.S. Defense Department contract for cloud computing services. The contract, reportedly worth as much as $10 billion over the course of a decade, now has Amazon and Microsoft vying for it – according to a New York Times article citing a Pentagon spokesperson. The winner will be announced as soon as July 2019, the New York Times said.
Amazon’s cloud business, called Amazon Web Services (AWS), seems to be emerging as a major growth driver for the company. Revenue from the unit exceeded $7.4 billion in the fourth quarter.
Microsoft, on the other hand, does not disclose figures separately for its Azure cloud segment; but Morgan Stanley analysts led by Keith Weiss estimated that Azure generated more than $3 billion in revenue for Microsoft in the fourth quarter as mentioned in the analysts’ note to clients earlier this month.
The Defense Department hasn't released any statement regarding the matter on its website as yet. None of the aforementioned companies have issued any official statement either.