Dell, Microsoft, GD win $296M Air Force cloud contract
By
Nick Wakeman
Dell leads a team including Microsoft and General Dynamics that will supply the Air Force with a cloud infrastructure for 100,000 users under a $296 million contract.
A team led by Dell Federal Systems has won the Air Force’s Collaboration Pathfinder $296 million contract to supply the Microsoft Office 365 cloud platform.
Dell is teamed with Microsoft and General Dynamics. The platform includes email, instant message, desktop voice/video communications, productivity tools and user storage.
The Air Force and the Defense Logistics Agency worked together to let the contract.
Microsoft reports that there will be 100,000 seats supported by the contract. The company claims it is one of the largest commercial cloud contracts in Defense Department history.
The Air Force was unable to disclose the value of the contract on Friday. Dell and Microsoft spokesman declined to comment on the value as well.
According to an Air Force statement, the use of a cloud solution will allow Air Force personnel to focus on cybersecurity and not managing basic IT functions such as email and SharePoint.
“The move to the cloud will also allow the Air Force to realign critical resources to Cyber Mission areas in a secure and reliable environment,” the Air Force said.
The Air Force plans to collect metrics that will help it evaluate broader cloud solutions, the statement said.
Deployment will be in fiscal 2016, according to Microsoft.
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