Google, Amazon win Israel's cloud services tender

JERUSALEM, April 21 (Xinhua) -- U.S. technology giants Google and Amazon won a tender to provide cloud services to the Israeli government, the state's Finance Ministry said on Wednesday.

The winning of the two companies will be officially announced after they complete the tender requirements, mainly fee payments.

Defeated bidders include Microsoft, Oracle and IBM.

The services provided by Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud include the setup of local cloud sites in Israel with an initial cost estimated at 4 billion shekels (about 1.23 billion U.S. dollars).

The tender is part of Israel's Nimbus flagship project, aimed to provide a comprehensive in-depth solution for the provision of cloud services to the government ministries and authorities, the Israeli army, and other bodies.

The project is led by the Ministry of Finance, along with the Ministry of Digital Affairs, the Israel National Cyber Directorate, the Ministry of Defense, and the Israel Defense Forces.

It consists of four parts, which are the purchasing and building cloud infrastructure, formulating a policy for cloud migration, integrating and migrating to the cloud, and implementing of control and optimization of cloud activity.

The cloud services will be provided from local cloud sites, where the data will be processed and stored within the borders of Israel under strict data security guidelines.

For the purpose of advising and accompanying the setup of the cloud sites, a cloud center of excellence will also be established.