Microsoft misses deadline for secure EU Azure

Date:
Fri, 16 May 2025 09:45:00 +0000

Description:
Microsoft agreed to make an EU-specific version of Azure to support
competition following a CISPE complaint, but it failed.

FULL STORY

Microsoft has failed to deliver a special, EU-specific version of Azure a milestone it was meant to achieve by mid-April 2025.

The Washington tech giant had previously committed to building a Hoster
Product for EU providers, promising features like multi tenancy support, unlimited virtualization and pay-as-you-go SQL Server licensing.

It all stems from a November 2022 antitrust complaint, when CISPE accused Microsoft of engaging in anticompetitive business practices that saw it favor its own Azure cloud over competitors.

Microsoft missed a major CISPE antitrust milestone

CISPE complained that it was more expensive to run Microsoft software on
rival cloud platforms than on Azure, thus the company pledged to tweak some
of its licensing terms to open up competition.

The European Cloud Competition Observatory (ECCO) published its second report on Microsoft, maintaining its amber rating not a good look for a company that's been the subject of antitrust investigations on a global scale. "Some concerns exist but corrective actions have been proposed," ECCO explains.

"Although there have been setbacks, specifically in the delivery of a product-based resolution, both sides continue to engage in positive discussions," CISPE wrote .

CISPE Secretary General Francisco Mignorance commented: "It is disappointing that the proposed product did not deliver, but this is in not the end of the Agreement. Phase 2 opens the door to discuss alternative, commercially equivalent solutions that enable CISPE members and Europes cloud
infrastructure providers to compete fairly, while still offering Microsofts productivity tools to their customers."

Microsoft must now propose alternatives a Plan B by July 10, 2025, or face potential new legal action. In the meantime, the UK's CMA continues to review the company's licensing tactics.

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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/microsoft-misses-deadline-for-secure-eu-azure

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