DISA eyes more vendors, faster contracts for joint cloud successor

As the Pentagon maps out the next phase of the Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability, officials are prioritizing speed, a streamlined contracting process and a broader vendor pool, according to the director of the Defense Information Systems Agency.

The Defense Department in 2022 awarded contracts to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Oracle and Google to provide cloud computing, storage and other services through the enterprise cloud contract known as JWCC . Under the arrangement, the companies compete for task orders worth up to $9 billion through June 2028.

JWCC is viewed as a key component of the department’s Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control initiative, with the military services directed to prioritize using the enterprise contract . DISA Director Lt. Gen. Robert Skinner, whose agency manages the effort, said Tuesday that all four services are taking advantage of the program and, to date, the department has awarded $996 million in contracts with another $20 million in the pipeline.

Less than two years into that effort, officials have already begun to plan for the program’s next iteration . Former Pentagon Chief Information Officer John Sherman revealed in December that the work was underway, but offered few details on what changes it could bring.

Speaking at the AFCEA TechNet conference in Augusta, Georgia, Skinner said the planning work for what he called JWCC Next is in its early days, but opportunities have already emerged to improve the capability.

He highlighted three early focus areas for the effort: improving speed to contract, increasing the number of companies and bringing on more capabilities like AI.

Skinner said that while the JWCC process is already moving faster than other traditional programs — awarding contracts within weeks of releasing a task order — DISA is looking at ways to make the process more efficient.

JWCC is the successor to a failed Pentagon cloud effort known as the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure program. The department canceled the effort in 2021 after allegations of political interference.

Beyond JWCC, Skinner highlighted progress on an effort known as DODNET, a secure network for agencies outside of the military departments, including DISA and the Defense Technical Information Center. The system will replace multiple stovepiped, legacy networks with a more modernized capability.

DISA has onboarded about 32,000 users to DODNET and in October will begin a six- to nine-month push to bring on another 100,000 personnel, Skinner said. Those new users will come from multiple organizations including the Defense Contract Audit Agency, the Defense Contract Management Agency and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service.