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Microsoft addresses anti-competitive cloud licensing, but only in certain regions
4 min. read
Published onAugust 30, 2022
published onAugust 30, 2022
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European Union cloud users are getting a bit of reprieve from Microsoft’sdraconian-like licensing termsthat many have claim tether the line of anti-competitive practices.
Earlier this week, Microsoft announced the changes to its EU cloud licensing structure via a blog post titledMaking European Cloud Providers More Competitive, wherein the company lays out its three primary goals to assist customers in their flexibility of choice for cloud service products, and presumably, avoiding another anti-competitive strike from the EU in the process.
According to Microsoft, on October 1, 2022, EU partners and their customers should see the following:
Microsoft gets into the nitty gritty of the licensing terms on another postvia its Licensing blogthat includes information regarding new flexible virtualization, options for Software Assurance or subscription licenses to license Windows Server on virtual core basis and one- and three-year subscription choices for several products.
The changes come as three years of disgruntled customer experiences began to boil over after Microsoft’s 2019 license overhaul thatraised prices across its cloud servicesportfolio while simultaneously building in discounts for first party integrations.
For the past three years, many partners and customers have complained that the 2019 licensing overhaul was a thinly veiled shift towards “tying” and thus ultimately an anti-competitive decision that heavily disincentives users in choosing AWS or Google Cloud while also running Office or Windows workloads.
In April 2022, Microsoft President and vice chair Brad Smith finally acknowledge the growing concerns over the company’s erratic and prohibitive licensing by saying, “there definitely are some valid concerns, it’s very important for us to learn more and then make some changes.”
Over the next two months leading up to the official licensing changes proposed by Microsoft, the company will also be addressing its outsourcing and hosting terms to more fairly compete with competing cloud platform pricing and services.
It should be noted that the October 1, 2022 due date for licensing changes only apply to the EU and do not address the concerns raised by US-based partners and customers who haveraised similar alarmsas the EU over the past three years.
Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
Kareem is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. His passion for technology and content creation drives are unmatched, driving him to create well-researched articles and incredible YouTube videos.
He is always on the lookout for everything new about Microsoft, focusing on making easy-to-understand content and breaking down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security.
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Kareem Anderson
Networking & Security Specialist
He is a journalist from the bay area, now living in Florida. He breaks down complex topics related to networking, Azure, cloud computing, and security
