Microsoft has secured a $927 million contract from the US Department of Defense for technical consultancy services. This ensures the software giant's continuing association with The Pentagon, which received OS upgrades from the company for the four million people in its employ.
Reuters reported that the massive contract is an undisputable proof that The Pentagon's trust towards Microsoft has gone from strength to strength, especially now that the OS upgrade project is coming to a close. Said project, which upgraded all computers within the Department of Defense to Windows 10, has been the largest enterprise deal it has ever fulfilled.
According to Nasdaq, the mega-deal from The Pentagon affirms Microsoft's key position in the software market. That serves as a very timely development, considering that competitors like Apple's Mac OS X and the open-source Linux OS continue to climb up the OS stakes. Such, of course, provides a promising long-term picture for the company.
Despite the deal's enormity, Geekwire clarified that it doesn't include an agreement to provide the Department of Defense with access to Microsoft's source code, as stated in the agency's statement itself. That means Microsoft hasn't made its OS susceptible to forking by any element within The Pentagon, which would otherwise introduce misrepresentations.
Earlier this year, Microsoft's market performance has been characterized by a series of positive developments. The last six months saw the company's stock generate positive returns of 24.6%, and such impressive results are backed by sound business deals, according to Nasdaq.
The subscription model Microsoft has presented with the Office 365 has made the company stronger as an enterprise partner. New products, such as the upcoming Surface models and the Azure cloud computing service, has also given the company its much-needed market edge. Furthermore, the acquisition of professional social networking website LinkedIn greatly raised the brand's stakes moving forward.
With such developments in place, expect Microsoft to continue rallying on as an industry leader for software technology. Watch the company's feature of one of its highly-anticipated products, the Surface Studio, below:
