The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) announced this week that it has entered into a “non-competitive” long-term contract with Microsoft to provide support services to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). Under this five-year deal, Microsoft will provide consulting services and access to “proprietary resources and source code.”
According to the DoD, Microsoft’s source code will be made available “when applicable to support Department of Defense's mission” and the company’s services will primarily be applicable within the Continental U.S. However, at the DoD’s discretion, Microsoft can be called upon to provide support services at “multiple locations outside the continental U.S.”.
The DoD adds, “These services require access rights to Microsoft’s proprietary (closed-source) code, which is licensed under exclusive legal right of Microsoft, and are required to support the Department of Defense’s mission.”
The contract is worth $927 million, and is the second major government win for Microsoft this year. Back in February, the DoD entered into another agreement with Microsoft to upgrade roughly 4 million computers to Windows 10. That horde of computers included desktops, notebooks and 2-in-1 convertibles like Microsoft’s Surface Pro family (which is on the DISA Unified Capabilities Approved Products List).
"Further demonstrating a strong vote of confidence for the platform, Windows 10 has been certified as meeting specific government criteria and standards." said Microsoft at the time. This latest contract is no doubt in place to help aid the transition to Windows 10 within the Pentagon, and Microsoft's efforts to push its latest operating system into the hands of as many consumers, businesses, and governments as possible on its quest to top over 1 billion installs.
Src