Microsoft ( NASDAQ: MSFT ) has asked other cloud computing companies, including Google ( NASDAQ: GOOG ) ( NASDAQ: GOOGL ) and Oracle ( ORCL ), for help to speak to the U.S. government and spread its contracts so as to curb Amazon's ( NASDAQ: AMZN ) dominance in the space, The Wall Street Journal reported .
The news outlet, citing people familiar with the effort and a document it has seen, noted that Microsoft ( MSFT ) has issued talking points to the other companies. In addition to Google ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) and Oracle ( ORCL ), The Journal noted Microsoft ( MSFT ) has reached out to VMware ( VMW ), Dell Technologies ( DELL ), IBM ( IBM ) and Hewlett Packard Enterprise ( HPE )
Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft ( MSFT ) has not asked Amazon ( AMZN ) to join the consortium, the news outlet added.
Microsoft ( MSFT ), Google ( GOOG ), Oracle ( ORCL ) and Amazon ( AMZN ) did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Seeking Alpha.
The report comes after Microsoft ( MSFT ) and Google parent company Alphabet ( GOOG ) ( GOOGL ) reported strong quarterly results, aided by their cloud computing units.
In its most recent quarter, Microsoft ( MSFT ) said Azure grew 40% year-over-year or 46% in constant currency.
Google CFO Ruth Porat said the cloud provides the company with an "extraordinary opportunity" and some analysts expect it to keep growing at a rate of more than 30%.
Amazon's ( AMZN ) Amazon Web Services unit, is still the industry leader, holding nearly 33% of the high-growth cloud infrastructure space, according to Synergy Research Group .
According to research firm Gartner, AWS has 47% of the U.S. and Canada public market share for cloud computing contracts, compared to 28% for Microsoft ( MSFT ).
In 2021, the National Security Agency picked Amazon ( AMZN ) as the sole provider for a cloud contract that could be worth $10B over the next decade.
In March, the Pentagon delayed the announcement of its long-awaited Joint Warfighting Cloud Capability contract, or JWCC, to December. The valuable cloud computing contract which could be worth as much as $10B over five years, is being sought by companies such as Microsoft ( MSFT ), Amazon ( AMZN ), Google ( GOOG ) and Oracle ( ORCL ).
In April 2021, a judge declined to toss Amazon's ( AMZN ) objections to Microsoft ( MSFT ) winning the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure, or JEDI, contract, after Amazon claimed in court filings former President Donald Trump "screwed" it out of the contract.
In October 2019, the lucrative contract was awarded to Microsoft ( MSFT ), just months after it was reported that Trump asked former Defense Secretary Mark Esper to put the contract on hold on reports that it favored Amazon ( AMZN ).
In July 2021, the deal between Microsoft ( MSFT ) and the Pentagon was put on hold as the JEDI contract was canceled and would be replaced with the JWCC.
Earlier this month, Microsoft ( MSFT ) announced Microsoft Cloud for Sovereignty, a new public cloud that will let governments around the world have greater control over data and "increased transparency."
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Microsoft looks to Google, others to help curb Amazon's cloud computing prowess: report