“The commitments tackle the Fee’s issues associated to the tying of Microsoft Groups to the corporate’s common productiveness functions Phrase, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, included in its Workplace 365 and Microsoft 365 suites for enterprise prospects,” says the European Fee.
Microsoft has dedicated to do the next:
Many of the commitments from Microsoft will likely be enforced by EU lawmakers for seven years, with the interoperability and information portability ones in power for 10 years. Microsoft initially unbundled Teams from Office in Europe in 2023 in an try to handle regulator issues, after which spun off Teams from Office 365 as its personal separate app globally final yr.
“Organizations large and small throughout Europe and all over the world rely closely on videoconferencing, chat and collaboration instruments, particularly because the coronavirus pandemic,” says Teresa Ribera, govt vp for Clear, Simply and Aggressive Transition on the European Fee. “In the present day’s resolution due to this fact opens up competitors on this essential market, and ensures that companies can freely select the communication and collaboration product that most accurately fits their wants.”
EU lawmakers first opened a Microsoft antitrust investigation into Groups bundling in 2023, after Slack filed its anti-competitive grievance amid intense competitors with Microsoft that developed after the covid-19 pandemic started. Slack’s unique grievance alleged that Microsoft had “illegally tied” its Microsoft Groups product to Workplace and is “power putting in it for tens of millions, blocking its elimination, and hiding the true price to enterprise prospects.”