Tech giants have been pointing fingers at each other for months when it comes to the cloud computing industry. Google, Microsoft and Amazon (AWS), the three dominant players in the market, are being criticized by each other.
Now Google has a complaint filed The European Commission accuses Microsoft of using licensing terms to prevent European customers from switching cloud providers despite there being no technical barriers to doing so, or imposing a 400% price markup.
According to the company, this costs European companies at least $1 billion a year. It also hampers competition and innovation, as companies are not allowed to use multiple cloud platforms.
‘Lock-in’ tactics
Microsoft’s terms force users to lock into its service, which also weakens security, Google points out, as a lack of provider diversity means cyberattacks are more common. The complaint points to the recent outage as an example of vulnerability when one company controls a large portion of the market.
In the UK, regulators found that Microsoft had acquired a whopping 70% of all new cloud customers in 2022, while raising concerns that technical limitations and costs could make it difficult to switch.
“Like many others, we have tried to engage with Microsoft directly.” Google’s statement said: “We have started an industry dialogue about fair and open cloud licensing. And we have advocated on behalf of European customers and partners who fear retaliation in the form of audits or worse if they speak out.”
Just a few months ago, Microsoft entered into an agreement with Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE). The settlement reportedly amounts to €20 million to resolve an antitrust complaint regarding Microsoft’s cloud computing licensing practices.