The licenses imposed by the Redmond-based company prevent the use of Azure in conjunction with other cloud services.

On September 25, 2024, Google Cloud announced that it had filed a complaint against Microsoft with the European Commission, alleging anticompetitive practices in cloud licensing. Google accuses the Redmond-based company of holding Azure users captive, preventing them from migrating to a competitor’s solution or charging them exorbitant prices to do so.

“If Microsoft’s licensing practices apply to many products, Windows Server is at the heart of the strategy to lock customers into Azure,” Google stated. Windows Server is indeed “an essential tool in many IT environments, as it serves as the backbone for applications, files, and services,” the statement continued.

Microsoft has gradually reduced the ability to use it with other cloud providers. According to Google, the turning point was in 2019 when Microsoft “adopted new licensing terms imposing extreme financial penalties on companies wishing to use Windows Server with Azure’s closest competitors, such as Google Cloud and AWS.”

These price increases, which can reach up to 400%, were later followed by numerous interoperability barriers. According to Google, the entire European Union’s technological ecosystem suffers from these anticompetitive practices, which entail many hidden costs.

The Mountain View company concluded by highlighting its virtuous practices of opening its cloud infrastructure to competition. However, this stance might seem somewhat ironic coming from Google, as the company has been repeatedly condemned for abuse of dominant position by the European Court of Justice.

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