This week, Microsoft says it signed a deal with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to provide online email, web conferencing, document collaboration, and instant messaging to the 120,000 USDA employees. The deal, worth $27 million over three years, is part of a GSA Schedule contract with Dell (which bid the Microsoft Online Services solution in May 2010). USDA CIO Chris Smith (pictured) called it a trusted enterprise-ready solution.
USDA expects to save about $6 million per year compared to their current technology expenditures.
Google complained about not being given the opportunity to bid and made a statement about the general goodness of full and open competition
[From USDA, Wall Street Journal, Reuters. Picture from U.S. Government]
