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Microsoft is trying to address EU antitrust issues after complaints from messaging app Slack.
Concerns surround Microsoft Teams, which rivals claim has gained an unfair advantage in the video conferencing and online collaboration market by being bundled as part of Microsoft 365.
Microsoft had previously announced plans to change its terms in an effort to level the playing field in October 2022, citing the “importance of an open and competitive cloud economy in Europe” in a blog post (opens in new tab).
Microsoft Teams versus competition
Reuters (opens in new tab) highlights the company’s extensive history of controversy, which has generated a total of €2.2 billion in fines over the past decade for cases related to tying and other practices.
However, Microsoft is keen to emphasize its innocence. To counter threats from other companies, it explained that Teams (introduced in 2017) managed significant growth during the pandemic thanks to native video conferencing support, allowing people to meet virtually face-to-face. Slack didn’t have such a tool back then, so it had to lose out to companies like Microsoft and Google.
Questionnaires have already been sent to rivals by the European Union’s antitrust watchdog, which aims to expose Microsoft’s interoperability and bundling practices – something the company should be used to, following complaints about the bundling of cloud storage platform OneDrive with Windows.
In stark contrast to Microsoft’s practices, Google and Zoom are working together to make it easier for users across platforms to connect, reducing the need for businesses to purchase multiple licenses.
Zoom users will be able to join Meet calls “on all platforms” by the end of the year, and while Meet users will need to use ChromeOS-based Meet devices to join Zoom calls, it’s a step in the good direction that could lose Microsoft in the long run.
For now, Microsoft remains committed to improving its already popular platform by expanding accessibility features, adding new tools, and tweaking updates.