JEDI investigations cause more delays

The U.S. Court of Federal Claims was to hear arguments this Thursday involving Oracle’s lawsuit challenging the Defense Department’s JEDI cloud computing procurement.

But investigations by DOD, its inspector general and reportedly the FBI are continuing. So the court has hit pause on the case, including the hearing that would have taken place Thursday. No new date has been set.

Calling off the hearing was expected, but the action further illustrates how the JEDI project is at risk of falling farther behind and perhaps irreparably.

After all, that $10 billion contract might be delayed. But the rest of DOD is still marching forward with their own plans to move to the commercial cloud. And the intelligence community is planning a massive multiple-award contract to help it make more use of the commercial cloud.

DOD’s second look at the possible personal and organizational conflicts of interest continues. They have five days to inform the court once the inquiry is concluded.

That conclusion could bring a screeching halt to JEDI. Or it will be just another delay and the contract will keep moving forward toward a Court of Federal Claims ruling.

I was looking forward to attending the hearing in-person, but then I learned that even if it was still being held, it would be closed because the case is under seal and not open to the public or press.

What happens next really depends on the results of DOD’s investigation and any conclusions they draw from it, then there is the court case. If that gets resolved in DOD’s favor, we’ll see an award and almost certainly more protests.

The longer JEDI gets delayed and the rest of the world moves forward, the more questions are raised about JEDI’s relevancy.