Commerce goes direct to hyperscalers with $4.1B cloud pact

"The Commerce Department is planning a 10-year, $4.1 billion blanket purchase agreement for cloud computing capabilities and only the big hyperscalers need apply."

"Commerce decided that only 'original equipment manufacturers acting as cloud service providers' will be eligible for award, effectively locking out resellers and systems integrators."

"Commerce is using the General Services Administration's eBuy portal to create the BPA, so any bidders will need to hold a GSA Schedule for cloud services."

"In many ways, Commerce is following a strategy similar to the Defense Department and its Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability vehicle with Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Oracle and Google Cloud."

The Commerce Department plans a 10-year, $4.1 billion blanket purchase agreement for cloud computing, limited to native hyperscale cloud service providers. This decision stems from specialized technical requirements, including massive compute elasticity and proprietary global backbones. Only original equipment manufacturers acting as cloud service providers will be eligible, excluding resellers and systems integrators. The BPA will be created using the GSA's eBuy portal, requiring bidders to hold a GSA Schedule for cloud services. This strategy mirrors the Defense Department's approach with its Joint Warfighter Cloud Capability vehicle.

Read at Nextgov.com