Microsoft Reaches Agreement with French Tech Giant OVHcloud to Resolve Antitrust Complaint

The settlement comes on the heels of another recent agreement with the cloud group CISPE, effectively reducing the immediate threat of an EU probe into Microsoft’s cloud practices.

Under the terms of the deal, OVHcloud’s users will find it easier to deploy Microsoft’s solutions on their preferred cloud providers. A spokesperson for OVHcloud confirmed to Politico that the agreement includes “several changes in practices conducted by Microsoft,” leading to the formal withdrawal of the complaint.

OVHcloud, alongside Aruba and Danish Cloud Community, had filed the EU complaint in March 2022, citing Microsoft’s abuse of its dominant market position and its tying practices. These practices, they argued, made it prohibitively expensive and challenging to operate Microsoft’s software on competing infrastructures.

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“We are glad we reached this settlement and addressed OVH’s concerns,” said Robin Koch, a spokesperson for Microsoft, in a statement.

The groundwork for this settlement was laid last March when Microsoft agreed to amend its cloud licensing terms, as reported by Politico. This agreement in principle set the stage for the finalized deal announced today.

An OVHcloud spokesperson highlighted the broader impact of the agreement, stating, “Although this agreement leads to concrete progress for the entire European cloud ecosystem, there is a crucial need for further action to effectively put an end to all anticompetitive practices implemented by hyperscalers in the EU cloud market.”

Source: Politco