US Department of Defense Gives High-Security Green Light to Amazon Web Services

The Amazon-friendly Obama Administration has found yet another way to reward the tech giant from Seattle. Earlier this week, the Financial Times reported that the Department of Defense (DoD) gave Amazon's cloud computing juggernaut a high-security clearance. That means Amazon Web Services (AWS), as the enterprise is commonly known, is in the driver's seat to obtain very lucrative, often secret business from federal agencies producing and managing the government's classified information needs.

From funding and revenue perspectives, the approval represents a bonanza for Jeff Bezos' tech empire. Barring an act of folly, Amazon is now in a position to reap federal financial rewards for a generation. The formidable barriers to entry in this field would likely daunt all but the strongest, largest, and most connected players. Amazon's desire to grow and monopolize this consistent money maker should not be underestimated. Certainly IBM and other blue-chip firms, which have had their way in this arena for decades, will find Amazon's seizure of this financial high ground a "disruptive" business development.

Jeff Bezos doesn't have to send Barack Obama a "thank you" card. In fact, 44 sent one to Amazon's monarch earlier this year, when the president visited an Amazon warehouse in Tennessee and characterized its dogshit-wage jobs as an entry point to the middle class. One wonders why the most powerful person on the planet felt -- and continues to feel -- compelled to provide Amazon with such gratitude.