Microsoft Corporation would be reportedly updating its software licensing agreements following complaints from several European cloud computing service providers to the antitrust regulators that the operations of the company have threatened the integrity of the tech giant’s rivals.

As per sources, the upcoming changes would enable customers of rival cloud service companies in Europe to easily shift their existing software to these networks. This shift would allow them to sell consumer-friendly solutions at an affordable price, with the aid of all the necessary products.

For the uninitiated, Microsoft has been facing the brunt of a formal inquiry into its business practices from the European Commission for quite some time now. The Commission reportedly sought feedback last year after a complaint from another rival, OVHcloud.

Apparently, the French rival stated that the licensing terms made it extremely difficult for the service to run on Microsoft’s products, while Azure Cloud performed all the functions of Windows, Office and Windows Server in an effective manner.

Apparently, the changes would be in effect from Oct 1. Apart from European service providers, these changes would also impact cloud sellers on a global scale. However, Amazon.com Inc., Google LLC and Alibaba Group Holding Ltd would be exempted from this rule.

Elaborating on the same, Microsoft Corporation’s President and Vice Chairperson, Brad Smith, claimed that not all of the claims put forth by organizations are valid, although the ones that may be true would be altered shortly.

Interestingly, the comments made by Smith came to the fore following an increase in consumer complaints which claimed that Microsoft’s rules were inadvertently increasing the cost of running programs on rival cloud computing services such as Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services.

In some cases, three years ago, the restrictions were further fortified to an extent wherein rival cloud services could not entertain any Microsoft products on their platforms.

Source Credits: - https://www.business-standard.com/article/technology/microsoft-outlines-changes-in-european-cloud-licence-terms-after-complaints-122083000139_1.html