Google and Amazon have raised significant concerns regarding Microsoft’s cloud practices in the UK market, accusing it of impeding customer choice.
- Google criticised Microsoft’s licensing restrictions, questioning their impact on market competition and customer choice dynamics.
- Amazon’s AWS supported Google’s allegations, highlighting a historical discontent with Microsoft’s conduct among cloud providers and customers.
- The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is probing these practices, with the major cloud players presenting their evidence.
- The findings of the CMA’s investigation, expected next year, could potentially reshape the competitive landscape of the UK cloud market.
Google has openly criticised Microsoft’s practices within the UK cloud market, citing that its software licensing imposes restrictive conditions that could skew the market in its favour. According to Google, these restrictions, coupled with technical barriers, significantly limit competitive opportunities for other cloud service providers.
Amazon Web Services (AWS) echoed Google’s sentiments, suggesting that dissatisfaction with Microsoft’s conduct is longstanding among both cloud providers and customers. AWS labelled Microsoft’s actions as ‘artificially imposed’ and indicated they could be remedied relatively easily.
The feedback from Google and AWS came during the Competition and Markets Authority’s examination into the market practices of leading cloud providers, including Microsoft. This probe is intended to evaluate the competitive dynamics within the cloud services sector in the United Kingdom.
During this investigation, both Microsoft and AWS, who command over two-thirds of the UK’s cloud market collectively, have disputed the CMA’s preliminary findings. Microsoft argued that the CMA’s perspectives overlook the dynamic and evolving nature of the market, where customer satisfaction is reportedly high, and competition among providers drives down prices.
Microsoft further contended that their software licence fees do not significantly elevate costs for their competitors, while claiming that AWS and Google maintain sufficient margin to compete with its Azure platform. In contrast, Google remarked that operating Microsoft workloads on its infrastructure incurs higher expenses compared to Microsoft’s Azure.
The broader context of these proceedings includes concerns raised by regulatory authorities such as Ofcom. They have pointed out high exit fees and interoperability barriers as potential issues, potentially dissuading customers from switching to smaller cloud service providers.
As discussions continue, it is anticipated that the CMA will unveil its detailed findings early next year. Stakeholders across the cloud services ecosystem are closely monitoring these developments, which could redefine the market’s competitive framework.
The ongoing scrutiny by the Competition and Markets Authority could lead to significant changes in the competitive landscape of the UK cloud market.
