Microsoft inks $617m tie-up with US military

Microsoft has confirmed the signing of a massive contract which will see the firm offer IT services to much of the US military.

Under the deal, Redmond will be responsible for equipping some 75 percent of the US Department of Defense (DOD) with IT software and services. The deal was said by the DoD to be worth $617m.

Under the terms of the three-year contract, the company will work to integrate software and services between the US Army, Air Force and the Defense Information Systems Agenc (Disa)). The partnership will cover a number of areas including cybersecurity, datacentre consolidation, mobility and cloud computing services.

"Microsoft has longstanding relationships with the US Army, the U.S. Air Force and Disa, and we are honoured to expand our support of ongoing technology modernization efforts across all three organisations," Microsoft Department of Defense Business general manager Tim Solms said.

"This agreement enables us to provide the best technology tools to an incredibly broad range of servicemen and servicewomen across the DoD, and we are looking forward to implementing to support their mission goals."

The platforms which will be deployed in the deal will include Windows 8, Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013. According to Microsoft, the contract is its largest ever with the US DoD.

The Microsoft deal comes as government agencies around the world are changing the way they contract with the private sector for IT services. In the UK, the NHS reported savings of some £1bn through contract renegotiation, while the G-cloud initiative has been credited with cutting contract expenses.