Oracle may have lost its recent protest over the Pentagon’s procurement process for the $10 billion JEDI cloud system contract, but a judge’s finding of a “flawed” solicitation could open up several potential avenues for an appeal.
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Given the amount of money at stake, Oracle may be encouraged to glom on to, for example, Judge Bruggink’s finding that the DOD’s top acquisition official had provided a “flawed” legal justification to support the department’s decision to make the JEDI contract a single-award deal, according to PilieroMazza PLLC attorney Lauren Brier. Major defense deals are typically required by law to have multiple awards.
“Oracle may have a leg to stand on as a result of the court’s determination that the [official] relied on an exception that did not accurately reflect the structure of the JEDI cloud solicitation,” Brier said.
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Even if the DOD ultimately moves ahead with its contract award as planned, without further intervention, the losing bidder — either Amazon or Microsoft Corp., as the last two left in the competition — is highly likely to launch a post-award protest, further delaying JEDI, according to both Kinosky and Brier.
“The Court of Federal Claims’ decision identified flaws in the procurement, creating some ammo for a post-award protest,” Brier said. “Both Microsoft and Amazon have the money to spend on such a protest, as well as the vitriol to challenge a lucrative cloud procurement that may very well expand beyond the JEDI program.”
Excerpt taken from the article “DoD ‘Flaws’ Open Door For JEDI Appeal” by Daniel Wilson for Law360. To view the full article, please visit this link (subscription required).
