Dell Technologies, Inc. (NYSE:DELL) shares moved higher in Wednesday’s extended trading after the Pentagon awarded Dell Federal Systems a five-year, $9.7 billion deal to manage Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT) software licensing across the Defense Department, intelligence community and U.S. Coast Guard.
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Officials said the agreement is designed to consolidate licenses for Microsoft tools used for email, spreadsheets and other services on both classified and unclassified networks, according to Bloomberg.
Pentagon CIO Kirsten Davies said Dell beat multiple rivals for the contract and estimated the arrangement would cut annual costs by $422 million.
Bloomberg reported that Acting Navy CIO Barry Tanner said the contract gives the military one centralized source for the licenses needed to operate Microsoft systems, reducing duplication.
