US $10B secret military, intelligence contract awarded to Amazon

American multinational technology company Amazon has managed to clinch a $10B secret military contract with the the National Security Agency (NSA).

The NSA has been attempting to modernize its repository for classified data, triggering a battle between tech giants, including Microsoft, to win cloud computing contract.

According to Press TV, this is the the second multibillion-dollar cloud contract the US intelligence has awarded in the past year.

Amazon Web Services, which has one this latest contract, is reportedly the market leader in cloud computing, and also the dominant cloud provider among federal agencies.

Government Accountability Office records reportedly showed that the award was being challenged by Microsoft.

“[The NSA’s award] just reiterates that Amazon is still the cloud provider to beat across the federal government,” said Chris Cornillie, an analyst at Bloomberg Government. “Microsoft has come a long way and made it a two way horse race in government, but Amazon was forming relationships and gathering security certifications a decade ago and Microsoft is still playing catch-up.”

An Amazon spokesperson told The Hill that the company was “recently awarded a contract for cloud computing services to support the Agency” and that another company has filed a protest.

Based on the latest decision, Microsoft is taking legal action in an apparent attempt to win the contract, named “WildandStormy” according to protest filings.

“We are exercising our legal rights and will do so carefully and responsibly,” a Microsoft spokesperson said.