DOD plans to release second draft solicitation for JEDI cloud

The Defense Department plans to release a second draft request for proposals for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud competition in April after the first draft received more than 1,000 comments.

In a March 24 update to the Federal Business Opportunities website, the JEDI cloud team announced it had received 1,089 comments from 46 vendors, two associations and three government agencies on the first draft RFP released March 7.

"We appreciate industry's participation in the draft solicitation process and are confident that these inputs will help us to refine and clarify the requirement," the posting states. "DOD remains committed to a transparent process. To that end, the JEDI Cloud team intends to release answers to all previously submitted comments/questions along with a second draft solicitation package for additional comment during the week of April 9."

DOD still plans to release the final RFP in early May, the notice adds.

The Pentagon is planning the JEDI contract as a single, indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity award to provide cloud services DOD-wide, officials told companies during a March 7 industry day held to unveil the first draft RFP.

The contract will include options to extend it upwards of 10 years, and DOD Chief Management Officer Jay Gibson told reporters it's fair to characterize it as a "multibillion-dollar" award.

The single-award strategy has proven controversial, with many companies and industry associations arguing DOD should use multiple awards for services that are expected to be used throughout the department.

The issue has also garnered congressional attention, as lawmakers want DOD to provide them with more details on the acquisition strategy.