Microsoft Resolves EU Antitrust Cloud Complaint with OVHcloud

Microsoft has reached a settlement with the French cloud company OVHcloud, putting an end to an antitrust complaint submitted to European Union regulators. According to Politico, the arrangement, alongside a similar deal with industry association CISPE, aims to lessen the likelihood of an EU antitrust investigation. The agreement makes it easier for clients of OVHcloud to deploy Microsoft’s solutions on OVHcloud’s infrastructure. This deal mandates Microsoft to modify certain practices, addressing grievances about the company’s market dominance and product-bundling strategies. These changes are designed to reduce costs and simplify the process for running Microsoft’s software on other cloud services. Allegations to Settlement OVHcloud, joined by Aruba and Danish Cloud Community, lodged the complaint in the middle of 2021, which surfaced in March 2022. They alleged that Microsoft misused its dominant market position, creating challenges for users who wanted to run Microsoft’s software on non-Microsoft cloud platforms. OVHcloud has validated the settlement and confirmed the formal withdrawal of the complaint. Microsoft’s representative Robin Koch expressed contentment with the resolution, noting that it addresses OVHcloud’s concerns. Nonetheless, OVHcloud highlighted the need for ongoing efforts to eradicate anti-competitive practices by major cloud providers in the European market. Microsoft continues to be under the regulator’s lens in Europe, including a current complaint in Spain over similar anti-competitive issues in the cloud sector. The deal with OVHcloud comes after a series of adjustments Microsoft made to its cloud licensing policies in March of the previous year. This resolution is seen as a key step in addressing regulatory concerns and promoting a more competitive cloud ecosystem in Europe. Recent CISPE Settlement Microsoft has recently also reached a settlement with he Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE). European cloud service providers under CISPE accused Microsoft of bundling its software with Azure cloud services, making it challenging for customers to migrate to other providers, thereby stifling competition.  This $21.7 million arrangement spares Microsoft from a protracted and costly antitrust probe by EU regulators. However, it emerged last week that Google was trying to block the settlement by offering money to cloud providers. Bloomberg reports that Google attempted to disrupt this settlement with a substantial financial package of €470 million, urging CISPE to maintain their antitrust action against Microsoft. However, CISPE rejected Google’s offer, favoring direct negotiations with Microsoft over extending the legal confrontation.