Microsoft Partner Signs $617M Deal with U.S. Defense Dept., Supports Mobility
Microsoft Partner Signs $617M Deal with U.S. Defense Dept., Supports Mobility by UCStrategies Staff
Microsoft Corporation, through one of the company’s biggest partners, Insight Enterprises, Inc., has signed a contract worth $617 million with the United States Department of Defense (DoD). The three-year deal would see Microsoft’s technology cascaded to the 1.5 million computers at the Pentagon and into the hands of the Defense Department’s 450,000-strong workforce.
Microsoft claims that this licensing agreement, covering close to 75 percent of all DoD personnel, is the most far-reaching one ever inked with the U.S. Department of Defense.
According to Microsoft, the agreement aims to modernize DoD’s technology, enable cross-agency collaboration, and reduce costs. It also provides support on “IT priorities around datacenter consolidation, collaboration, cybersecurity, mobility, cloud computing and big data.”
Serviced via Insight Public Sector, a unit of Insight Enterprises, the Joint Enterprise Licensing Agreement serves the Air Force, Defense Information Systems Agency, and the U.S. Army. All three departments will have access to Windows 8 as well as the latest versions of Microsoft Office and file-sharing platform, SharePoint Enterprise.
Bloomberg reported that the military had a total of seven bids, all companies unnamed, for the contract. With the licensing agreement in place, the military looks forward to saving “tens of millions” of dollars from reduced software license costs.
Both the Arizona-based Network Enterprise Technology Command of the U.S. Army and the Alabama-stationed Air Force Program Executive Office for Business and Enterprise Systems at Maxwell Air Force Base-Gunter Annex are working with Microsoft to attain the Army Golden Master and Air Force Standard Desktop Configuration compliance for Windows 8.
The Defense Department’s personnel is growing more and more mobile, so the use of Windows 8 on any supported device is touted by Microsoft to enhance productivity and security.
The DoD deal came as a boost to Microsoft after the research firm, NPD Group, Inc., reported that the new Windows OS was not able to undo the 11 percent consumer laptop sales slump in the U.S. over the holidays, while rival Apple’s Macbook dipped by 6 percent.
“Microsoft has longstanding relationships with the U.S. Army, the U.S. Air Force and DISA, and we are honored to expand our support of ongoing technology modernization efforts across all three organizations,” said Tim Solms, general manager of Microsoft Department of Defense Business. “This agreement enables us to provide the best technology tools to an incredibly broad range of servicemen and servicewomen across the DoD, and we are looking forward to implementing to support their mission goals.” (KOM) Link. Link.