Microsoft occupies a very important place in the cloud market and Google is increasingly concerned about it. In an interview with Les Echos, Amit Zavery, vice-president of Google Cloud, accuses his rival of anti-competitive practices, allowing him to increase the price on his most popular solutions. The Mountain View firm hopes for an investigation by the European Commission.
“I am very concerned about the anti-competitive behavior of Microsoft using its leadership and install base to sell its products in the cloud”. Amit Zavery, vice-president of Google Cloud, does not go there with the back of the spoon to discuss the practices of his rival in the cloud sector with our fellow Echoes. Remarks which follow the first accusations made by OVHcloud, or even Amazon, to the European Commission.
For Amir Zavery, the risk is obvious. “If nothing is done soon, the cloud computing market will be dominated by Azure [la plateforme star de Microsoft, NDLR] and they will increase the prices, as they have done for other products in the past”, he warns. An advantage therefore the Redmond giant is already taking advantage of, by imposing additional costs on users who use a Windows or Office license via another cloud provider.
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Google accuses Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud practices
Restrictions “which did not exist before”, recalls Amit Zavery, who insists that many companies, especially in France, refuse to go through Google’s solution or another of its competitors precisely for this reason. The message of the vice-present of the cloud division is clear: for him, Microsoft is clearly guilty of anticompetitive practices. A statement which some will not fail to underline the irony, given the multiple fines that Google has been fined for this same fault.
However, the risk is very real. For several years, Microsoft has made no secret of its desire to make Azure the leader in the cloud market, whether by incorporating more and more related functionalities on Windows and Office, but also with its Xbox Game Pass which strongly emphasizes focus on its cloud gaming solution. It is also for this reason that the CMA, the British regulator, decided to block the takeover of Activision-Blizzard last month.
Amit Zavery does not hesitate to tackle the quality of Microsoft’s tools to support his argument. “Azure’s growth over the past three years is driven primarily by these practices, not by a high-quality product. Look at Teams, it’s not the best product in the world for video communication, but it quickly became a leader thanks to its link with Office 365! »
Faced with these growing complaints, the European Commission has decided to look into the matter, forcing Microsoft to promise a review of its commercial strategy. The Redmond company advances in particular that more than 100 partners have already taken advantage of its new license conditions. Which is far from enough to convince Amit Zavery.
“The majority of these changes simply allow partners to sell more Microsoft products without changing the restrictions. It’s an attempt by Microsoft to integrate other competitors, picking winners and losers.”, he laments. Especially since for the latter, there is urgency. While Amazon still remains the market leader, Microsoft is gradually catching up, leaving Google and the rest of the competition far behind.
“The promise of the cloud is to have an open solution”recalls Amit Zavery. “This possibility will make a huge difference to the adoption of cloud computing globally and in the EU. We must not wait any longer to act, already, I think it is a little late…”
Source: Les Echos