Amazon Web Services buys Wickr in push for government deals

Amazon Web Services (AWS), the #1 cloud-computing business, announced the acquisition of Wickr, a messaging platform used by government agencies and enterprises.
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Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

Amazon Web Services, the Cloud platform owned by e-commerce giant Amazon, aims to pick up more government business. Amazon Web Services does not reveal the size of Cloud deals from government agencies.

AWS, the # Cloud service provider in the world, is currently in a legal battle with Microsoft over the Pentagon’s $10 billion cloud deal. Thousands of government agencies use Amazon’s cloud-computing services, CNBC reported.

Stephen Schmidt, vice president and chief information security officer for AWS, in a blog post, said: “Wickr’s communications solutions help enterprises and government organizations to adopt hybrid work environments in their workforces and is a welcome addition to the growing set of collaboration and productivity services that AWS offers customers and partners,” Schmidt said.

Wickr’s website confirmed the acquisition: “From our founding ten years ago, we have grown to serve organizations across a wide range of industries, all over the world.”

Wickr offers an app that’s free to the public, along with a paid service geared toward supporting military communications.

The San Francisco-based tech start-up works with the Department of Defense, among others. Vice reported in April that U.S. Customs and Border Protection purchased Wickr licenses.