Google Cloud claims that Microsoft is using the same strategy it employed to lock customers into its Teams platform with Azure, imposing a 400% price increase for customers who want to move their workloads to a competitor’s cloud.
Subscribe today for free
“Microsoft is the only cloud provider to use these tactics, which have significantly harmed European companies and governments,” Amit Zavery, Head of Platform at Google Cloud and Tara Brady, president for Google Cloud EMEA wrote in a blog post.
“Not only have they cost European businesses at least €1 billion a year, but also they have led to adverse downstream effects, including waste of tax funds, stifled competition, restrictions on distributors and channel partners, and heightened risk for organisations exposed to Microsoft’s ‘inadequate’ security culture.”
Google Cloud is taking issue with Microsoft’s licensing practices that apply to an array of enterprise-focused cloud products, chiefly Windows Server, which serves as the backbone for applications and services across the continent.
Google Cloud contents that Microsoft restricted Windows Server users from running them on any hardware, forcing them to use Azure.
As a result, Google Cloud claims customers have complained that Microsoft’s restrictive licensing has incurred significant hidden costs that have forced businesses to divert money from investments in growth and digital transformations.
“Restrictive cloud licensing practices hurt companies and impede European competitiveness,” Zavery and Brady wrote. “We look forward to continuing this discussion on how to keep the cloud market fair and open for European businesses and governments.”
The complaint follows a settlement between Microsoft and the Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE), an industry group made up of cloud infrastructure providers who filed a complaint in 2022 over unfair exit practices for customers.
Google Cloud has revived the issue, however, claiming Microsoft failed to change track and instead “struck one-off deals with a small group of companies.”
The hyperscaler said it filed a formal complaint with the European Commission to “ give voice to the complaints we hear from customers – and from across the industry – and to seek a resolution that will benefit everyone.”
The European Commission would now have to consider the case, conducting an initial assessment to determine whether the complaint warrants further investigation.
Any formal investigation could months to years, depending on the complexity of the case, the level of cooperation from the cloud providers involved, and how Microsoft chooses to contest or settle the resulting findings.
A Microsoft spokesperson told Capacity: “Microsoft settled amicably similar concerns raised by European cloud providers, even after Google hoped they would keep litigating. Having failed to persuade European companies, we expect Google similarly will fail to persuade the European Commission.”
RELATED STORIES
Google Cloud unveils peering provider ranking system
Microsoft to invest $1.3bn to expand Mexico's cloud and AI infrastructure
