The UK's competition watchdog says Microsoft has a "significant degree of market power" in key software products, and its licensing practices could therefore influence customers' choice of cloud providers.
Microsoft Cloud for sustainability
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) launched an investigation into public cloud services in October last year, following a recommendation from telecoms regulator Ofcom, whose own report concluded that the local cloud market was not working as it should.
It has now published a first analysis [PDF] focused on Microsoft, arguing that the Redmond giant has "significant market power in cloud services compared to other software vendors", thanks to its Azure platform hosting between 30 and 40 percent of the cloud market in Great Britain.
But the report also claims that the majority of concerns raised in submissions received by the CMA apply to Microsoft.
