Microsoft cloud is just too dominant, complains Google
Reaction: Microsoft’s Brad Smith
Google yesterday urged competitors watchdogs to take motion in opposition to Microsoft over its dominance of cloud computing.
The US tech large has written to the Competition Markets Authority (CMA) complaining about its rival’s licensing practices, which it argues unfairly discourages clients from utilizing competitor companies.
‘With Microsoft’s licensing restrictions UK clients are left with no various however to make use of this cloud companies supplier,’ Google stated in a letter to the CMA.
Microsoft has confronted strain on each side of the Atlantic over its dominance in cloud know-how.
Cloud computing is when companies equivalent to knowledge storage and software program are delivered over the web, permitting customers to entry companies remotely.
The CMA launched an investigation into the UK’s cloud computing business in October, following a referral from media regulator Ofcom which raised considerations about Microsoft – in addition to Amazon – and their dominance. Last 12 months Amazon Web Services and Microsoft had a mixed 80 per cent share of the cloud market, figures from Ofcom counsel.
A Microsoft spokesman stated it had been addressing considerations about competitors and had up to date licensing guidelines.
‘Competition between cloud gamers stays wholesome,’ the spokesman stated. The CMA declined to touch upon the stories.
But Google’s letter to the CMA comes lower than two months after Microsoft lastly obtained the inexperienced mild to snap up Call Of Duty maker Activision Blizzard.
The CMA had initially blocked the £53billion deal in April due to considerations concerning the impression it may have on the gaming market.
The transfer sparked a dramatic response from Microsoft, whose president Brad Smith slammed it as ‘dangerous for Britain’. He stated on the time: ‘The European Union is a extra engaging place to begin a enterprise. The English Channel has by no means appeared wider.’
He additionally blasted the ‘unelected’ and ‘unaccountable’ regulator. After a number of concessions from Microsoft, the watchdog lastly agreed to the gaming tie-up in October. But Sarah Cardell, chief govt of the CMA, nonetheless blasted the agency for its method. She stated: ‘We take our selections free from political affect and we can’t be swayed by company lobbying.’
