To summarize, a lawsuit Google filed on Oct. 29, 2010 complained that the DOI’s request for quotation (RFQ) specified that it would only consider Microsoft’s Business Productivity Online Suite for a hosted e-mail and collaboration service, despite Google’s “numerous attempts to engage DOI in substantive discussions regarding the technical and cost-saving benefits of the Google Apps solution.” The DOI emphasized its need for security, which Google believes it meets given its FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) certification and accreditation.
Google ultimately dropped the lawsuit, after the DOI agreed to consider multiple cloud providers. The DOI issued a new cloud request last Friday, which no longer requires that the successful bidder use a Microsoft service. An accompanying document states “It is the intent of the Department to issue a non-restrictive technical requirement to maximize competition and seek the best value to the Government and the taxpayer.” However, the successful bidder will be required to integrate with several Microsoft products as part of the project to move 88,000 users to a cloud-based e-mail and collaboration service.
Federal requirements
For example, the document notes Interior “has standardized on the Microsoft Office suite of office productivity solutions,” including Word and Outlook. “Vendor solutions are expected to be compatible with the operating environment,” the document says.
The Web-based collaboration services to be acquired by Interior also must use the DOI’s Microsoft Active Directory system “as the authoritative source for authentication and, preferably, as the directory for email users.”
Having to integrate with Microsoft software is nothing new for Google, given the ubiquity of Windows, Office, Exchange and other products in enterprise environments. “Because Microsoft owns the majority of enterprise e-mail seats, Google is often compelled to support a great deal of Microsoft e-mail infrastructure such as Outlook and Active Directory,” Gartner analyst Matt Cain tells Ars. “So Google should not have a great deal of difficulty in complying with these requirements.”
But that doesn’t mean the DOI will want to use Google. Google has landed several government contracts, yethasn’t been able to complete a deployment in Los Angeles because of the LAPD’s shifting security demands. Further, since DOI’s original request Microsoft has upgraded its own cloud service from BPOS to Office 365, which is supposed to bring greater resiliency, although in practice both Google and Office 365 services have suffered outages.
