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Microsoft has reached an arrangement with Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe ( CISPE ) , nearly two years after the European not - for - net profit trade associationfiled an antitrust complaintwith the European Commission ( EC ) alleging that Microsoft was using its market ascendence in the business software realm to tether customer to its Azure swarm .
village discussionskicked off in April last year as Microsoft sought to keep regulators at bay , though neither company would reveal what the declare oneself change to the status quo were . Some 15 calendar month on , we can now reassert what ’s happening .
The core issuing relates toa 2019 licensing changewhereby Microsoft made it more expensive to run Microsoft ’s enterprisingness software program on rival swarm service .
The deal reached Wednesday include a memoranda of understanding signed by CISPE members and Microsoft , whereby Microsoft commits to make changes to address CISPE ’s complaints . This includes a collaboration between all the political party to release an “ raise version of Azure Stack HCI ” for European swarm provider , which will offer features such as multi - session virtual desktop base based on Windows 11 ; free Extended Security Updates ( ESU ) ; and wage - as - you - go licensing for SQL Server .
“ This is a significant triumph for European cloud providers ; CISPE has given Microsoft the benefit of the doubt and think that this agreement will provide a horizontal surface playing orbit for European swarm base service of process providers and their customers , ” Francisco Mingorance , CISPE secretary superior general , said in a instruction issued to TechCrunch .
CISPE also said it would set up an independent European Cloud Observatory ( ECO ) “ to monitor the exploitation and ongoing rating ” of the changes , which Microsoft has nine month to deliver on .
Microsoft chairman and vice chairwoman Brad Smith said that the deal would help increase competition in the spherical swarm marketplace .
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“ After work with CISPE and its European penis for more than a year , I am proud of that we ’ve not only resolved their business of the past , but also knead together to delimit a path fore that land even more rivalry to the cloud computing market in Europe and beyond , ” Smith said in a program line issued to TechCrunch .
Notably , CISPE counts AWS as one of its members , posture alongside smaller European cloud services providers such as Anexia and UpCloud . However , the agreement announced today excludes AWS , which was n’t part of the negotiations , according to CISPE . And of grade , it does n’t include other major swarm provider such as Google or Alibaba , which are n’t CISPE members anyway .
This apparently work against the “ red lines ” criteria that CISPE lay out last yr , detailing the parameters within which it would negotiate with Microsoft — these admit a declaration that any deal progress to should “ apply to all cloud infrastructure provider operating in Europe , ” which this clearly does n’t give the omission of the other major cloud providers .
In a statement issued to TechCrunch , an AWS spokesperson pointed out that Microsoft selectively making these changes forsomeCISPE members shows that there are no technical barriers that prevent Microsoft from making its software system more easily available to rival cloud providers , while Google Cloud pass of platform Amit Zavery added that the wad attain today is equivalent to a salary - off , with reports indicating that Microsoft is payingas much as $ 22 millionas part of the colony . CISPE did support that Microsoft would be pay a “ lump gist ” to cover judicial proceeding and campaigning price over the preceding couple of year , with CISPE withdrawing its antitrust complaint with the EC in return . However , CISPE would n’t confirm the lump sum figure , which seems to conflict another of its “ red-faced line ” stipulations it correct out last year , which is that any settlement “ must be transparent and clean , [ and ] open to examination . ”
“ Microsoft ’s playbook of paying off complainants rather than addressing the substance of their ill hurts commercial enterprise and should n’t shoot anyone , ” Zavery said . “ Many regulatory bodies have opened inquiries into Microsoft ’s licensing practice session , and we are bright there will be remedies to protect the cloud market from Microsoft ’s anti - competitive behaviour . We are exploring our alternative to cover to agitate against Microsoft ’s anti - free-enterprise licensing in rescript to promote choice , founding , and the increase of the digital economy in Europe . ”
Ryan Triplette , executive theatre director for the Coalition for Fair Software ( CFSL ) , said that the move merely profit a handful of providers in Europe and emphasise the pauperism for the issue to be treat globally .
“ This settlement is Microsoft ’s latest attempt to obviate regulative scrutiny without addressing the underlying anticompetitive practices that impact millions of cloud customers worldwide , ” Triplette say . “ Even after this agreement is in place , Microsoft will continue to expend its unfair software licensing practices to specify option , push back up cost , and lock in customer . A settlement with some smaller European providers that turn out the immense bulk of client and cloud providers does nothing to address Microsoft ’s global anti - militant behavior . ”
