Recent deals with OVHcloud and CISPE, said Brunkard, “seem like strategic moves to address antitrust issues in Europe. The OVHcloud agreement makes it easier to use Microsoft solutions on different cloud providers, showing a potential step towards more openness. The CISPE deal, which includes changes to software licensing and a hefty payment, aims to boost competition and avoid an EU investigation. However, even with these deals, Microsoft is still under the microscope, especially in Spain.”
These settlements, he said, “show just how much Microsoft has at stake in staying compliant and keeping its lead in the changing European market. Even as Microsoft softens its approach to antitrust challenges, it’s clear they are still playing hard to maintain their market dominance.”
Dario Maisto, senior analyst at Forrester, who covers public cloud vendors in EMEA, said, “on July 10 Microsoft had already made it into the news for paying €20 million to settle a dispute with CISPE and European cloud providers on an existing antitrust complaint. The settlement, however, did not include big players such as Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google Cloud, or Alibaba’s AliCloud.”
