The Army chose option number three for its regional data centers. After deliberating on how to create a network of data centers across the country for more than three years, the Army decided to buy private cloud services from vendors, instead of doing it themselves or buying from other the Defense Information Systems Agency.

The service hired eight contractors to provide enterprise cloud computing services under a five-year $250 million contract.

The Army hopes the contract will reduce its costs through server consolidation and through the use of fixed data centers. This is the Army’s first cloud computing contract.

Under the deal, Criterion Systems, General Dynamics One Source, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Services, HP Enterprise, IBM, Lockheed Martin, MicroTech and Northrop Grumman will compete for task orders to provide a host of services. These include software-as-a-service (SAAS), platform-as-a-service (PAAS), infrastructure-as-a-service (IAAS) and data and application migration services.

The Army said 11 vendors bid on this procurement.

The Army issued a solicitation for the APC private cloud in 2010. In the request for proposals, the service asked for application hosting as the main cloud service.

“The Army has identified the need for quick and flexible deployment of applications supporting various levels of mission criticality,” the Army stated in the May 2010 request for information. “Base Closure and Realignment (BRAC) activities and Continuity of Operations (COOP) situations have made this need more urgent.”

The APC private cloud contract also will play a significant role in the service’s plans to close or consolidate 185 data centers by 2014.

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