The Department of Defense (DoD) has surpassed the $1 billion milestone on its $9 billion multi-vendor cloud contract, with over 65 task orders distributed to a variety of U.S. defense organizations, the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) announced last week.
The Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability (JWCC) is the Pentagon’s top-tier cloud initiative, taking over from the canceled $10 billion Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure project. In December 2022, Google, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, and Microsoft secured positions on the $9 billion JWCC program and are now vying for task orders.
“During our first year, we saw incredible demand across the DoD. This major milestone in our program’s journey is a testament to the dedication of our team, collaboration with our mission partners, and commitment of our cloud service providers,” DISA stated.
The task orders vary in classification, capability, and vendor selection. Some task orders focus on Combined Joint All Domain Command and Control (CJADC2), the updated version of the DoD’s Joint All Domain Command and Control initiative.
CJADC2 aims to integrate sensors across air, land, sea, cyber, and allied networks, delivering real-time command data to defense leaders through a unified development effort.
“We’re really pleased with how it’s going and the level of adoption that it’s receiving. [We’re] also happy with the speed with which folks can get task orders awarded,” DoD Acting Chief Information Officer (CIO) Leslie Beavers told MeriTalk, adding that turnover times are under a month in some cases.
The average lead time for a task order is 25 days, though it may vary based on the size and competitiveness of the award, potentially extending beyond that timeframe.
“We’re happy with where it is [and] where it’s headed. We are starting to look at the operational edge and how we reach out to get closer to the warfighter,” Beavers said, adding that the Pentagon is also interested in leveraging cloud better with its partners and allies.
