Despite massive ongoing project with AWS
Australia's Department of Defence has signed a five-year AU$495 million (US$324.71m) deal with Microsoft to use its cloud computing services.
As reported by iTNews, the contract will commence on September 1, 2025, and replaces a previously three-year AU$107m (US$70.2m) contract that expired on June 30.
Under the contract, Microsoft Azure will underpin the defense department's Enterprise Resource Planning platform, which covers logistics, maintenance, finance, and procurement.
The department has also signed recent contracts with other technology suppliers, including AU$59 million (US$38.7m) for Citrix services over three years and AU$11m (US$7.2m) for a one-year deal with Oracle.
The deals suggest that, despite the Department of Defence having a major ongoing project with Amazon Web Services (AWS), it intends to maintain a multi-cloud strategy.
In July 2024, reports emerged that AWS was building a data center campus for Australia's government to handle top-secret information. The data center and cloud system will be developed as a partnership between AWS and the Australian government, and the latter will invest AU$2 billion (US$1.3bn) in the new system over the next ten years.
In total, AWS will construct three facilities to house the cloud system, which will be purpose-built for the defense and intelligence agencies, expected to be operational by 2027.
Microsoft was previously in the running for the project, with the Australian government seeking a cloud solution for its defense department since 2021.
