Google is Wary of Microsoft Cloud Moves in Europe

With Microsoft trying to evade an EU antitrust charge related to its cloud computing licensing practices, Google today stepped up its criticism of the software giant.

“We worry about Microsoft wanting to flex their decade-long practices where they had a monopoly on the on-premise software before, and now they are trying to push that into cloud,” Google Cloud vice president Amit Zavery told Reuters. “So they are creating this whole walled garden, which is completely controlled and owned by Microsoft, and customers who want to do any of this stuff, you have to go to Microsoft only.”

Google, which is a distant third in cloud computing behind Amazon and Microsoft, is referencing a years-long complaint that Microsoft’s cloud licensing is so restrictive that it harms customers and competitors alike by making it prohibitively expensive or technically difficult to move purchased software to different clouds. Microsoft announced what it thought would be a fix for this issue in May 2022, but the solutions it delivered months later only triggered a new round of complaints. The EU launched a probe in mid-2023, followed by the UK CMA in October.

Earlier this month, Microsoft started negotiations with the CISPE trade organization that represents the European-based cloud providers that petitioned antitrust regulators for help.

“Both parties are exploring potential remedies,” CISPE said at the time. “Any remedies and resolution must apply across the sector and be accessible to all cloud customers in Europe. Furthermore, any agreements will be made public, subject to scrutiny and monitoring by third parties.”

Google says it supports these negotiations.

“We are glad Microsoft is coming to the table to negotiate with CISPE regarding its complaint with the [European Commission] on anticompetitive licensing in Europe,” Mr. Zavery tweeted. “This is a step in the right direction, acknowledging that these restrictions have no technical basis and can be modified at [Microsoft’s] discretion … Microsoft shouldn’t be permitted to pick and choose who it competes with.”