The US Defence Department cancelled its $10 billion Jedi cloud-computing project on Tuesday, pulling the Trump-era award to Microsoft and announcing a new contract that pits the big software firm against rival Amazon.
The Pentagon initially said Amazon and Microsoft are the only companies that can meet the department's requirements but noted later in a press conference that they will be reaching out to other cloud providers in the next three months if they also meet the government's standards.
Other top cloud companies include Oracle, Google and IBM. Microsoft shares dipped a little more than 1 per cent after the news while Amazon's stock rose more than 3 per cent.
The now-cancelled Joint Enterprise Defence Infrastructure Cloud (JediI) contract was budgeted for as much as $10bn and was part of a broader digital modernisation of the Pentagon aimed at making it more technologically agile.
“We don't have an estimate yet, but I wouldn't latch on to the $10bn figure,” said John Sherman, chief information officer for the Pentagon. Microsoft said in a statement the company was confident it will “continue to be successful as the [department] selects partners for new work".
Mr Sherman said that Microsoft could submit a termination bid to recover costs of the scrapped project. The Jedi contract was awarded to Microsoft in 2019, but Amazon quickly filed a lawsuit to object.
Amazon, which was seen as a front-runner to win the project, has argued the contract process reflected undue influence from former president Donald Trump.
While president, Mr Trump publicly derided then-Amazon chief executive Jeff Bezos and repeatedly criticised the company. A US Court of Federal Claims judge in April refused to dismiss Amazon's claims.
Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
ENGLAND SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Sam Billings, Jos Buttler, Tom Curran, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
Batti Gul Meter Chalu
Producers: KRTI Productions, T-Series
Director: Sree Narayan Singh
Cast: Shahid Kapoor, Shraddha Kapoor, Divyenndu Sharma, Yami Gautam
Rating: 2/5
Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
Tonight's Chat on The National
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