Pentagon signs $9.69 billion Microsoft software deal to cut costs

The US Department of Defense has announced a five-year agreement worth $9.69 billion to combine software licenses used across the US military and intelligence agencies into a single contract. According to a report by news agency Reuters, the deal will mainly cover products and services from Microsoft, including Microsoft 365 tools such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint and email services. Officials cited in the report said the move is aimed at reducing duplicate spending and improving efficiency by centralising software purchases that were previously managed separately by different military branches and government agencies.The agreement, called the Core Enterprise Technology Agreement, will bring together software contracts used by the military services, intelligence community and the US Coast Guard. According to Reuters, Pentagon officials said the deal does not represent new spending because the software subscriptions and licenses were already being paid for through existing budgets.Instead, the agreement combines separate purchases into one system so the Defense Department can use its overall buying power to negotiate lower costs. The contract also includes cloud subscriptions and on-premises software licensing.Officials told Reuters that software procurement across the military had become fragmented over the years, leading to rising costs and overlapping contracts.The move gives Microsoft a larger enterprise-wide role across the US armed forces while helping the Pentagon streamline technology spending.