While we continue covering the DOD Cloud Executive Steering Group’s (CESG) multi-billion dollar Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (JEDI) cloud acquisition as it moves through the procurement process, the House Armed Services Committee has now drafted legislation using the FY19 National Defense Authorization Act, which could limit funding for JEDI until DOD submits a detailed explanation for the program to the congressional defense committees.

In the FY19 NDAA draft, released by Committee Chairman Mac Thornberry (R-Texas), no more than 50% of FY19 funding for JEDI would be made available until the Secretary of Defense submits a report detailed, among other items:

• The composition of the Cloud Executive Steering Group
• Information relating to the approved acquisition strategy and timeline for the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, including estimated migration costs and timelines
• A description of how the approved acquisition strategy provides for a full and open competition and enables the Department of Defense to continuously leverage and acquire new cloud computing capabilities

This comes after continued public debate over the single-award format for JEDI, and after Congress attached requirements for similar justification reports from the Secretary of Defense in the 2018 Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2018.

From small business contracting regulations to restrictions on other major cyber programs like JRSS, the NDAA has become a powerful tool for changes to federal contracting regulations, and the FY19 NDAA is no different. Beyond the potential JEDI funding limitations, the House NDAA draft also includes provisions which would require a DOD plan by 2020 for the full transition of “all Defense Information Systems Agency information technology contracting and acquisition services” to other DOD agencies (it would also require the elimination of the Washington Headquarters Services, the provider of the actual acquisition services for the JEDI program). This news came as DISA released plans for its own multi-billion dollar cloud acquisition, known as the Defense Enterprise Office Solution (DEOS). DISA has already announced  its first industry engagement opportunity for DEOS, at the AFCEA Defensive Cyber Operations Symposium in Baltimore, MD in May. 

EZGovOpps expects a final RFP for JEDI this month.

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