Oracle Corp. has lodged a protest with the U.S. Department of Defense on the latter's plans to grant a cloud computing contract worth up to $10 billion to a single company, Reuters reported Aug. 7, citing the company's spokesperson Deborah Hellinger.

Hellinger said awarding the contract to a single company binds the Department of Defense with a legacy cloud provider for a decade or longer. This approach is "contrary to industry's multi-cloud strategy, which promotes constant competition, fosters innovation and lowers prices," said Hellinger.

The Government Accountability Office will need to respond to the protest by Nov. 14, reported Reuters.

Microsoft Corp., IBM Corp., and Amazon are among the companies expected to bid for the contract. The bids will be accepted through September.