This New Year certainly did ring good news for Microsoft to ensure the cash registers keep flowing as the US Department of Defense signed a new software contract with Microsoft worth $617 million for a period of three years.
The Department of Defence announced the new contract though a press release:
Under the agreement, the Army, Air Force and DISA (Defense Information Systems Agency) can begin using the newest versions of Microsoft products, including Microsoft Office 2013, SharePoint 2013 and Windows 8, officials said, adding that Office 2013 provides enhanced security and content management tools.The package has been customized to meet the specific security needs of the Defense Department. [The agreement] recognizes the shift to mobility. Microsoft is committed to making sure that the technology within the agreement has a mobile-first focus, and we expect to begin to take advantage of Microsoft’s mobile offerings as part of our enterprise mobility ecosystem.
This is a good shot-in-the-arm for Microsoft which has given the best price to the DoD when compared to previous agreements, implying that the US Army will save more than $70 million a year for each of the three years.
Good going!