Google is suing the U.S. Department of the Interior (DOI) more than a bid for a brand new hosted e-mail technique which Google claims unfairly benefits Microsoft.The suit, filed inside the U.S. Court of Federal Claims on October 29, calls out the DOI for not taking into consideration Google Apps in its Request for Quotation (RFQ). The DOI RFQ specified that the DOI was trying to find a brand new, unified e-mail, calendaring and collaboration solution, but limited the acceptable possibilities to Microsoft;s Organization Productivity Over the internet Suite (BPOS) Federal suite only. The agreement is worth $49.3 million more than five a long time.Google is creating the argument that this is “unduly restrictive of competition,” noted TechDirt, which has a copy of the 37-page complaint embedded on its Internet site.According to the complaint, the DOJ specified that it needed a private-cloud remedy for security reasons. BPOS Federal is a dedicated, locked-down version of BPOS that is basically like a privately hosted version of Microsoft;s Exchange On-line, SharePoint Via the internet, Communications Internet and Live Meeting. Google Apps for Government is a multi-tenant hosted answer.The DOI justified its restriction of acceptable products to Microsoft because of Microsoft;s unified/consolidated e-mail and enhanced security features. (It sounds like the DOI also was looking for FISMA certification for the solution, which is something Microsoft is promising for BPOS but isn;t likely to deliver until some time in 2011 with its Office 365 BPOS successor.)Google has complained before about being barred from bidding on a government contract against Microsoft. Google complained earlier this year that the state of California blocked the organization from being considered in an e-mail system bid. The State ended up awarding the contract to Microsoft and its partner CSC despite Google;s objections, and claimed Google was unable to meet its requirements.I;ve asked Microsoft for comment on Google;s DOI suit. No word back so far….Related Reading:Google: Bidding process for California;s e-mail contract was designed for Microsoft winThe Inbox War: For Google, Microsoft,
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