The U.S. Department of Defense has announced a three year licensing agreement with Microsoft for a cool $617 million.

The agreement allows the Army, Air Force and Defense Information Systems Agency to begin using the newest versions of Microsoft products such as Office 2013, Sharepoint 2013 and Windows 8.

The agreement also advances the Department of Defense's continued focus on mobile computing. Navy Rear Admiral David G. Simpson commented,

“[The agreement] recognizes the shift to mobility. Microsoft is committed to making sure that the technology within the agreement has a mobile-first focus, and we expect to begin to take advantage of Microsoft’s mobile offerings as part of our enterprise mobility ecosystem.”

All totaled, the licensing agreement should save the Department of Defense tens of millions through lower license and software assurance costs.

No word if the Department of Defense will start issuing Windows Phones or Surface tablets to the troops, buy ya' never know.

source: Department of Defense via: Microsoft News; Thanks, Kenneth, for the tip!

http://www.wpcentral.com/us-department-defense-contracts-microsoft-few-million