Microsoft has announced it is making changes to level the playing field for cloud computing rivals following concerns that led to an EU complaint.
Microsoft is currently in second place in the cloud market, behind rival AWS. The company has a major advantage over rivals in the form of its operating system and business apps, giving it the ability to offer an end-to-end solution. Smaller rivals in the EU have accused the company of using that advantage, prompting Microsoft to announce changes to its policies.
Microsoft’s rivals say it costs the company’s customers more to license Office and other products when they opt for a third-party solution instead of Microsoft Azure. According to Reuters, company president Brad Smith says Microsoft is changing its licensing deals to make it easier for smaller rivals to compete effectively.
Microsoft’s history of legal issues over anti-competitive behavior seems fresh in the company’s mind, with Smith referencing its “extraordinary defeat” in its case against the EU’s antitrust regulators in 2007. It appears that incident is helping shape the company’s current, more cooperative policies.
“It really starts by giving more options to European cloud providers. So if there’s a company that has a data center but wants to run solutions in its cloud PBX data center, we’re creating more options for them to do so with our software, because that’s what they’ve been asking for,” he said.
