Amazon.com hiring software developers, system engineers, operations managers and cloud support staff is nothing new these days. But now the Seattle online giant has job postings for employees that require something a little extra.
Amazon is looking for employees who can, on top of typical responsibilities, maintain top secret security clearance and pass a U.S. government-administered polygraph test.
It makes sense as Amazon continues its battle with IBM over the rights to provide cloud computing services to the Central Intelligence Agency.
Back in March, the CIA initially awarded Amazon with a cloud computing deal, but IBM — a company with longstanding partnerships with government agencies — protested the contract. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) then recommended that the CIA reopen negotiations, which it did.
But Amazon isn’t backing down and strongly believes it deserves to provide its services to the government, as demonstrated by the company’s federal complaint filed in July that was made public a few weeks ago. The 79-page suit reveals how Amazon argued that IBM did not demonstrate the technology the CIA wanted and how it believed the GAO’s recommendation was “flawed” and violated federal law.
Amazon is a new player in the government sector and particularly in the security/intelligence realm, one that’s been dominated by traditional companies like IBM and HP. When Amazon’s deal with the CIA was first announced, Federal Computer Week’s Frank Konkel reported that Amazon would help the CIA “build a private cloud infrastructure that helps the agency keep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA’s previous cloud efforts.”
The CIA is now accepting new bids for the contract.
