The next Joint Warfighting Cloud Computing, or JWCC, contract might be open to more cloud service providers, according to the official overseeing the acquisition effort. In an interview with John Hale, chief of product management and development at the Defense Information Systems Agency, shared that the Department of Defense is integrating learnings from the current JWCC vehicle as it develops its next acquisition strategy.
Update on Next JWCC Contract
Some of the major changes in the upcoming contract, according to Hale, are related to access to third-party vendors included with large hyperscale providers.
“What we have learned as mission partners move to a particular hyperscale provider, they don’t just want that capability provided by that provider, they want all of the ancillary services that are provided as part of that ecosystem,” Hale shared with Federal News Network. “So how do we get to that, and how do we provide that capability to a warfighter, rather than have them to do separate contracts for that kind of stuff? That’s where we’re trying to make the changes to get to that.”
The official also revealed that DISA plans to issue the proposal solicitation for JWCC-Next in the second quarter of fiscal 2026. The agency expects awards to be made in early 2027.
Hale explained that the agency does not want an overlap between the ongoing and upcoming contracts. The current JWCC contract will expire in 2031 if all options are exercised.