The agreement provides enterprise-wide access to secure communications, collaboration, cloud and productivity technologies. The department said these capabilities are essential to supporting the American “Arsenal of Freedom.”
The agreement gives the department access to Microsoft 365, advanced cloud subscriptions and critical on-premises licensing. It is intended to support secure connectivity required for Combined Joint All-Domain Command and Control, or CJADC2.
“The Department of War is taking a definitive step forward to advance our digital infrastructure to deter near-peer adversaries by awarding a five-year, $9.7 billion Core Enterprise Technology Agreement to Dell Federal Systems,” said Kirsten A. Davies, Department of War chief information officer.
“This second-generation blanket purchase agreement will streamline and consolidate critical Microsoft software and services across the Department of War, the intelligence community and the U.S. Coast Guard,” Davies said.
The department said the agreement will help warfighters, commanders and civilian personnel collaborate effectively from the Pentagon to the tactical edge. It said the technologies form the foundation of the department’s digital ecosystem.
“To dominate the modern battlefield, our warfighters must be armed with the most secure solutions the commercial sector can produce,” Davies said.
“This $9.7 billion agreement is a foundational investment in decision advantage and to operate at the speed of relevance. We are fundamentally restructuring our Microsoft environment — shattering communication silos, aggressively driving efficiency, and employing a unified, collaboration environment required to defend, outmaneuver and defeat any cyber threats,” she said.
The department said the five-year structure will allow it to rapidly acquire and deploy critical software and cloud capabilities. It said the agreement will reduce delays linked to fragmented procurement processes.
By using enterprise-wide purchasing power, the department expects greater cost efficiency, standardised baseline configurations and improved interoperability across the military services and defence agencies. The agreement is expected to save the department an initial $422 million annually.
“We are achieving unprecedented scale and cost efficiency,” Davies said. “This blanket purchase agreement is expected to save the department an initial $422 million annually, a figure we actually expect to rise as we fully consolidate our IT services.”
The department said the agreement replaces dozens of separate contracts that previously provided services to the same user groups. Because the new and previous contracts involve the same vendor, the department said the transition will be seamless and does not represent new funding.
“This enterprise approach is not just about capability, it’s also about delivering on [Secretary of War Pete Hegseth’s] promise to be responsible stewards of the American people’s resources — taxpayer money,” Davies said.
The agreement is also intended to support warfighters by reducing the burden of managing enterprise software capabilities. Davies said the department will focus on providing the tools needed to support operational missions.
“This puts the tools in a warfighter’s hands, where they need them,” Davies said. “They don’t need to worry about an enterprise software capability — they can worry about warfighting. They can focus on the mission, and we focus on the tools to support them in the mission.”
Barry Tanner, performing the duties of the chief information officer for the Department of the Navy, said the contract would support service members who rely on department networks. He said it would also strengthen the Navy and Marine Corps’ access to cloud infrastructure.
“This contract is a game changer for the warfighters who rely on our networks every day,” Tanner said. “It allows us to bypass fragmented procurement cycles and directly arm our Sailors and Marines with the resilient zero-trust cloud infrastructure required to fight and win in the digital battlespace.”
The department said the agreement is a critical enabler of the National Defense Strategy. It said Microsoft 365 will support cross-domain intelligence sharing, while cloud subscriptions will accelerate deployment of combat-critical artificial intelligence and data analytics.
The agreement also includes targeted on-premises licensing to support operational continuity at the tactical edge. The department said this will help fortify classified enclaves and disconnected, intermittent and low-bandwidth environments.
The agreement is scheduled to begin on June 1 and includes Microsoft products such as Windows Enterprise Operating System and Office Professional Plus. The department said the enterprise capability is designed to support data sharing across the armed forces and with coalition partners.
