Microsoft and CISPE Agree to New Commercial Terms

Microsoft and Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (CISPE) have made a commercial agreement that the two say will help "reform licensing terms" for Microsoft software on CISPE member cloud infrastructure. This comes after it was decided that the previously required solution being developed by Microsoft repeatedly failed to meet the terms of the settlement with CISPE to end an antitrust complaint, which argued the company's contracts were harming the European cloud computing market.

“The agreement we reached with Microsoft marks a significant breakthrough in our long-standing efforts to ensure a level playing field,” said Francisco Mingorance, secretary general of CISPE. “For enterprise customers, the new programs directly address previous concerns of CISPE members and empowers European enterprises to choose among a wide range of cloud solutions that meet their sovereignty, compliance, and economic needs.”

Commenting on the agreement, Ryan Triplette, executive director of the Coalition for Fair Software Licensing, said: “Every stalling tactic has just bought Microsoft more time to lock in customers with restrictive and anticompetitive licensing practices. This is more smoke and mirrors from Microsoft: offer weak concessions in an attempt to avoid regulatory scrutiny and disingenuously pretend these actions promote European competition. Meanwhile, Microsoft continues to line its pockets at the expense of customer choice around the world.”

Similarly, Nicky Stewart, senior advisor to the Open Cloud Coalition, responded: “This bilateral deal between Microsoft and a subset of European providers leaves the vast majority of UK and EU customers facing the same high costs and restrictions. It does nothing to fix the underlying issue: Microsoft’s licensing practices that distort competition. Opaque side deals cannot deliver a level playing field. Only market-wide antitrust remedies will deliver real choice and fair pricing.”