Department of Defense (DoD) Cloud Computing Strategy: Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI)
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Introduction
Companies have sought to maximize value in much of modern business history by tailoring their systems to their strategies. For example, when mass production was seen in the 19th century, by centralizing key operations, sales, and finance, companies produced vast economies of scale. The idea of competition emerged several decades later when businesses diversified their products to new territories. The Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) contract is an arrangement between the U.S. Defense Department (DoD), with a major cloud provider hosting 80 percent of all DoD data. The U.S. government will pay the award-winning cloud provider no more than $10 billion over ten years. It’s part of a bigger DoD cloud system. The JEDI Call for Proposals (R.F.P.s) offer opened in mid-2018. Microsoft Azure received the contract in October 2019, after Azure and Amazon Web Services (A.W.S.) narrowed down the competitive field. During the selection process, however, A.W.S.’ position on fraud charges was questioned almost immediately. The Inspector General, in reviewing the process, found that contract awarding to Azure was “fair” and “compliance with applicable law.”
The participating cloud vendors included Oracle, Microsoft, A.W.S., I.B.M., and Google. Google was the first to leave the cloud network, in the face of domestic allegations that the government had access to its artificially intelligent (A.I.) technology. Oracle and I.B.M. have been the ones not known anymore. The D.D. concluded that both did not meet the minimum requirements for high-quality and sensitive military data. Plus A.W.S., and double Azure. Assuming that the deal is to be assigned to A.W.S., Azure has been advised to do so. A.W.S. has, almost immediately, appealed the case to federal court. To demonstrate that Azure is ready for highly sensitive DoD data, it has worked to enhance compliance with U.S. safety legislation. For example, the cloud provider strengthened its diverse services in October 2018 to meet FedRAMP’s moderate and high impact criteria. As a result, Azure has demonstrated that if data is lost, it can maintain protected data that will have a huge effect on the client. The cloud provider has been upgraded to DoD Impact Level 5 (IL5) for Azure Government Data Centres. With rising its cloud defense, A.W.S. was already preparing for the contract market and could thus potentially be awarded the contract. On either side of the country, there are two A.W.S. GovCloud regions, such as East and West, which meet FedRAMP criteria and D.D. incidence levels 2, 4, and 5. A.W.S. GovCloud shall comply with other provisions such as CJIS, ITAR, the Export Administration Regulations, FIPS 140-2, and I.R.S. Publication 1075.
Rather than storing or accessing data from an organization’s intranet on a device’s hard drive, the on-demand data storage and Internet connectivity mechanism are called cloud computing. It uses a cloud network, infrastructure, and collection of applications that includes elements like servers, and the internet. This technology can be delivered to the small consumer community in private, through open-to-public subscription business services, or through hybrid solutions combining private and public cloud technologies.
JEDI is an important cloud computing deal reported at $10 billion with the United States of Defence. The contract is a big deal regarding cloud computing. The companies that were interested in the contract include Microsoft, Google, Amazon, I.B.M., Oracle, and REAN Cloud-based Hitachi Data Systems. Google has agreed to withdraw from the labor dispute because Google sees its workers as being at odds with their convictions. It was called a “gift-wrapped in Amazon” before Amazon Web Services questioned Oracle, citing the IDIQ National Defense Authorization Act and the conflicts of interest between Deap Ubhi and Amazon, who had served in the Defense Department both before and after his tenure.
The West Coast tour began in 2017 and ended in Amazon and other leading technology firms. During the ride, Defense Secretary James Mattis directed Defense Department officials to develop a plan for modernizing the military technology. The Pentagon announced its 10-billion dollar military-IT modernization program over ten years in early 2018. The new plan implemented a defense department as a whole uniform I.T. policy covering classified and unclassified operations, while separate military and intelligence divisions have been negotiating their own cloud deals for years to come.
The Department of Defense’s absence of a Cloud and Technology Organized Strategy prevents war and its leaders from making crucial “mission speed” decisions based on data negatively impacting results. Warriors and leaders, in the absence of modern infrastructure, have to decide on resources or slogging through a long term procurement, supply, and distribution period.
Strategic Goals
Cloud breaches are also a major concern for customers. The corporation is going to lose millions of dollars in bribes in this and threaten its reputation. If the company is a government agency that has extremely sensitive classified information in the cloud, however, there can be a little hint of what will result from the violation. Consequently, in addition to choosing a cloud provider with the best security role, it is important that the DoD Cloud policy meets best practices for national security. The department will not follow the best practices in any way. Most companies use a multi-cloud system for 85 percent.
As noted, D.O.D. points out that, in a multi-cloud environment, multiple cloud providers will use their broader cloud strategy. At the same time, news agencies say that in one departmental cloud is 80 percent of the data. Not to mention: the contract is, in principle, worth $10 billion over ten years. That means Azure produces a rise in profits. Moor Insights, Chief Strategy Officer and Analyst Patrick Moorhead said in SDxCentr, that “the vast majority of its cloud revenues come from Office and Dynamics 365 platforms versus [service infrastructure], which I assume would be a big part of JEDI.”
The department expressed the need for increased D.O.D. involvement in core strategic assets such as information security and preparedness, and the continued integration of information technology into a broader spectrum of military operations, as well as the National Defense Strategy (N.D.S.) ‘Military Use of Autonomy, Intelligence, and Assets.’ D.O.D. Chief Information Officer Dana Deasy further argued that “to allow D.O.D. to make use of our technology and technology tools,” the department needs an enterprise cloud to “promote data-driven decisions” in part to support D.O.D.’s global operations.
The department articulates the need for greater investment in core strategic capabilities, such as ‘cybersecurity, resilience and ongoing incorporation of cyber technology into a wide variety of military operations’ and ‘Military application of freedom, artificial intelligence, and machine learning’ in an unclassified review of the 2018 National Defense Strategy (N.D.S.).
Analysis of Existing Strategy
Since the Federal Cloud Computing Initiative (FCCI) was introduced back in 2009, the federal government – including D.O.D. – has worked actively to migrate portions of its I.T. requirements to cloud-based services through initiatives like “Internet First,” which encouraged federal agencies to use cloud-based technology as a secure, reliable and cost-effective alternative. But D.O.D. has identified its current use of cloud services as “decentralized” and “disconnected,” creating “additional layers of complexity” to avoid unified access to apps and data across the department. D.O.D. also recognizes that its prior lack of “internet infrastructure, acceptance, adaptation, and procurement guidance” and the procurement of web-based service delivery D.O.D. components resulted separately in the “disjoined deployment of resources, silo data and inefficient acquisition without cost savings.”
Ultimately, D.O.D. plans to contribute to an enterprise-wide “general purpose” platform that the Jedi Platform procurement system will use to deliver ideas and PaaS at all classification levels. On the other hand, ‘Made for Use’ clouds are viewed as a tactical ‘Business Solution[s],’ e.g., the current SaaS Enterprise Office (DEOS) implementation program, which will create a cloud-driven replacement for certain D.O.D. operating systems, including email and instant messaging. The 2018 National Security Strategy (N.D.S.) unclassified summary highlights the need for greater D.O.D. investment in critical technology capabilities, including “cybersecurity, resilience, and ongoing cyber integration into a wide range of military operations” and “combat autonomy, artificial intelligence, and machine learning.”
Cloud is just software that stores people and businesses from around the world needing Internet access to the same data. This is very different from conventional I.T. agreements, because it is not necessarily software and not hardware, and, once implemented, it is a sort of thing that relies on software and hardware for the future. This is the result of an agreement that will last forever and is intended for one producer.
Analysis of Implementation Plan
The cloud computing paradigm is important in the industry, but it is also clear that companies are continuing to refine their approaches and determine how information and services can be distributed efficiently. Forbes Insights will also discuss some of the issues cloud computing faces. Approximately one-third have no plans for public cloud computing, compared with just 16 percent who said they had no plans for private cloud computing. Companies are far more involved in private cloud computing than public ones. Less than 10 percent now have a structured cloud solution. Most are still under investigation. I.T. administrators should find some major advantages of cloud computing. 90% claim that ‘few’ or ‘very’ useful cloud computing is feasible because of increasing network costs. A significant factor is improved productivity: 88 percent argue that a club is a good place to effectively distribute computing resources, and more than 80 percent agree that the cloud would minimize software licensing and upgrade costs and simplify the approach.
D.O.D. plans to market JEDI cloud services worldwide, also in austere environments that are similar to those that commercial cloud services offer. Accordingly, no bidder wanted a dedicated or exclusive unclassified service network, the department reported. Nevertheless, deals will adhere to the JEDI Cloud cyber protection framework and have an exclusive and dedicated network in place for critical services. In addition, D.O.D. wants to deliver quickly new, commercially accessible cloud services to JEDI Cloud customers and expects to remain consistent with the rates of the public sector. It is proposed that the minimum fixed payment D.O.D. will be USD 1 million. The contract is expected to have an annual limit of $10-billion over a possible implementation period of 10 years. The government can buy only the minimum amount set out in the contract under the ID / IQ contract and can then opt-out of the contract restrictions.
The U.S. Federal Claims Court found that the actions taken by Oracle America in the protest bidding case did not negatively impact the procurement process, or created an unfair competitive advantage for Amazon Web Services. However, individual breaches of the ethical standards of D.O.D. widened the JEDI cloud procurement process for federal employees participating in U.S. government procurement of goods and services by their analysis and led to the possibility of unresolved conflicts of interest. D.O.D. argued that it would award the JEDI Cloud contract to a provider whose proposal meets stated criteria and represents the best value for the government, based on a two-stage evaluation process. The bidders were evaluated in the first phase on the basis of seven parameters. In each sub-factor that was considered sequentially, proposals were judged acceptable or unacceptable: an inappropriate decision immediately excluded a proposal from further consideration. To demonstrate that the additional traffic created by JEDI Cloud’s unclassified usage does not represent the majority of the solution’s commercially accessible network, computational, and storage capacity, the “Elastic Use” subfactor needs to provide summary data for the months of January and February 2018. More than three active physical data centers in the United States and outermost regions of the United States are eligible for the “High Availability and Failover” sub-efficiency factor.
Where a proposal obtains an “acceptable” mark for each sub-factor, the proposal continues at the second stage of the selection process, where the “fair range” of bidders is determined in accordance with the price proposals submitted on the basis of the following five different additional criteria; Second, certification providers evaluated two additional criteria within a competitive scope: an offer plan to achieve the goals of small business involvement and a demonstration of the solution ‘s efficiency.
JEDI Cloud has been regularly identified by the Department of Development officials as a test model for the future transformation of D.O.D. from conventional information technology to the cloud. DOD CIO Dana Deasy has also shown the lack of experience the department has had in providing a business-wide cloud solution, which says it works with a variety of companies in the field. Section 2304a of Chapter 10, U.S.A. The Code sets out the requirement for multiple tasks or delivery agreements to be used and prohibits D.O.D. on a stand-alone basis, unless the Head of the Agency agrees in writing that one or more of the four defined circumstances apply, from assigning tasks or contracting orders in excess of $112 million to a single source (including all possible time periods). The D.O.D. explained in detail the reasons for using the JEDI Cloud Contract ID / IQ under 10 U.S.C2304a (d) (4) and FAR application requirements, noting that while the FAR offers a general preference for multiple awards I.D.s/I.Q.s, it also notes that if one or more of the six terms and conditions will not extend the FAR to multiple awarding approaches.
Section 1064 demands that D.O.D. C.I.O.s provide an update on the status of the Cloud Adoption Program as well as a planned D.O.D. Implementation Report, and limit the usage of D.O.D. Cloud Adoption Funding FY2019 until the report is released. In January 2019, the department presented the corresponding paper. Furthermore, Section 1064 required D.O.D. to evaluate the existence of a data network and an application or to be able to access it via a cloud prior to the approval of any new technology or upgrade. NDAA FY2019 stresses the importance of network modernization in companies using emerging technology to achieve D.O.D.’s cloud transformation and business efficiency goals. Conferences enable the department to continue ensuring that cloud technologies that are technically relevant, reliable, and effective are properly tested and coupled with other DOD IT programs to increase the quality and effectiveness of these technologies and services in support of D.O.D. missions.
Microsoft was responsible for redesigning the entire I.T. infrastructure, creating an open and responsive global network, and tracking issues such as vulnerabilities and violations on a continuous basis. The system required stronger cyber defenses and well encrypted. A key objective of JEDI in the Pentagon is the ability to integrate advanced computational technologies, such as artificial intelligence and machine learning, into security operations. In addition, the D.O.D. proposal allows the manufacturer to have ‘sustainable, reliable, and portable computer and storage facilities’ that can be used in the broad spectrum of military operations’ as well as ‘modular data centers that can be easily managed.’
Cloud infrastructure like [JEDI] allows users to access information from anywhere at any time, effectively removing users from the same physical location as the data storage hardware. Cloud computing tools on a scale ensure that the department is effectively managing and modernizing what I.T. wants and demands. The Committee supported the department’s strategy and vision for a flexible cloud-based enterprise architecture that provides a multi-site, multi-sales model that supports both general and targeted cloud solutions’ needs and values. The Senate-approved DFF2020 NDAA would require the DOD CIO and the DOD CIO to establish and enforce DOD-Wide Data and Application Transfer Policy and Guidelines for Cloud Section S.1035 1790, in accordance with the J6 Orders, Communications, and Computers (C4) and the Cyber Division and the DOD CMO. Due to the rapid speed of progress in the sector, the Committee is continuing to address this policy and the solution within a single company for a 10-year term. The Committee has introduced its Single Vendor Strategy since 2017, claims that W[D.O.D.] ‘s cost-cutting and technology innovation strategy has not been applied through current M.B.O.s and industry best practices, and is unlikely to be implemented as indicated in the Cloud Smart Strategy.
Therefore, the report of the House Appropriations Committee recommends that no money be required or spent on transferring data and applications to the JEDI cloud until the DOD CIO reports on the department’s plans for transition to a multi-cloud multi-sales plan. The DOD CIO will be asked to provide a list of potential procurement options within the department for the next two years for commercial cloud services, including relevant items such as the proposed contract structure and scope. Therefore the report of the House Appropriations Committee should state that no funds are needed or expended on data transfer and J.E.D. applications. The DOD CIO will also submit quarterly reports on the progress of the cloud adoption and implementation program beginning 30 days after the adoption of the FY2020 Defense Appropriations Act, to Parliament and the Senate.
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