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The Department of Defense needs to get it right when it comes to primary cloud purchases, even if it’s delayed.
John Sherman, dod’s lead data officer, told lawmakers Wednesday at a House Armed Services Committee hearing that the branch is committed to creating a multi-vendor, multi-cloud environment. The cloud is an essential cog in the overview of the branch for joint command and of all spaces and the virtual modernization strategy. But in the wake of the failed award of the Joint Venture Defense Infrastructure cloud contract, Sherman said it’s vital to “get it right,” even if it means delays in the DOD’s existing main cloud contract: the potential $9 billion capacity of Joint Warfighting Cloud.
The DOD is recently reviewing Warfighting Cloud’s joint capability proposals from 4 major cloud service providers: Microsoft, which first won the JEDI contract, Oracle, Amazon Web Services, and Google “to make sure they meet the requirements of the Department of Defense,” which includes offering features through the classification levels from unclassified to the most sensible secret and down to the tactical limit, Sherman wrote in testimony set for a hearing of the House Armed Services Committee’s subcommittee on cyber, cutting-edge technologies and data systems on May 18.
Contract awards were scheduled for April, but were postponed until December, a resolution advocated by Sherman.
“I told the team that while we want to act with a sense of urgency, we also want to get it right and take the time to carry out all the key procurement tasks,” he wrote.
Rep. Jim Banks (R-Ind. ), a senior fellow on HASC’s subcommittee on cyber and cutting-edge technologies and data systems, said he was “disappointed” by the delays in cloud contracts and was concerned that “there is still a long way to go. “”
Sherman said at the hearing that awarding the contract before the end of the year “is one of my most sensible priorities” and that the Defense Department underestimated the time it took to review the proposals.
“We recognize that this is vitally important. . . seeing with the cancellation of JEDI and how vital this is to the efforts [of the virtual and synthetic intelligence chief’s workplace], to the joint command and all the spaces and a lot of what we’re doing for the war,” he said. “I guarantee you we are dealing with enthusiasm. “
Sherman’s comments come as the branch increasingly expresses its cloud needs, from battlefield communications to synthetic intelligence and knowledge analytics to help with decision-making at the next level.
DOD appetite and spending around cloud infrastructure has increased in recent years along with overall investment in data technology.
For fiscal year 2023, the Pentagon requested a budget of $58 billion for computing and cyber activities, a 2. 5 percent increase from the grades followed for 2022. That includes about $12. 8 billion in cyber and classified spending and $45. 2 billion for unclassified computing. According to the Federal IT Dashboard, the Department of Defense is spending about $3200 million on primary IT purchases for fiscal year 2022 and 73% of the 37 projects tracked are on schedule.
Cloud-related spending, from infrastructure to software-as-a-service, such as the department’s adoption of Microsoft Office 365, increased nearly 20% between fiscal years 2021 and 2022.
“The Department continues its commitment to cloud computing and we have noted a 19% increase in cloud-related expenses between FY21 and FY22,” Sherman wrote.
“This expansion includes continued investment in cloud features for infrastructure, platform and software as a service, adding the Department’s transition to DoD365, which is the culmination of a multi-year effort for that email, voice, video and chat. Communication teams are best in class. “
Sherman also indicated that those investments will not slow down, primarily in terms of software and the needs of the DOD’s modernization strategy launched earlier this year.
“Since DOD is software-based, the ability to deliver resilient software functions temporarily and securely is a competitive merit that will delineate long-term conflicts,” Sherman wrote.
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