The clouds are gathering over Microsoft’s Azure operations in the EU and now the UK, with the launch of a new investigation into major cloud service providers that also includes Amazon. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is just about to wrap up its concerns over cloud gaming with Microsoft’s proposed Activision Blizzard acquisition, but it will soon turn its attention to Microsoft’s Azure cloud offerings and Amazon Web Services (AWS). It’s part of a fresh investigation into public cloud providers in the UK, after telecoms regulator Ofcom “identified a number of features in the supply of cloud services that make it more difficult for customers to switch and use multiple cloud suppliers.” Ofcom found issues with charges that cloud customers have to pay to move their data out of the cloud, discounts to only use one cloud provider, and technical barriers to switching between cloud providers. The CMA specifically calls out Microsoft, too. “Ofcom’s report also outlines concerns it has heard about the software licensing practices of some cloud providers, in particular Microsoft,” says the CMA in its press release today. “The CMA’s independent inquiry group will now carry out an investigation to determine whether competition in this market is working well and if not, what action should be taken to address any issues it finds,” says Sarah Cardell, CEO of the CMA.
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