Microsoft is allegedly making Azure disproportionately attractive to customers. CISPE supports this claim by comparing the costs Microsoft charges on Azure to the substantially higher prices to run Windows and Office outside its own cloud service.
CISPE (Cloud Infrastructure Providers in Europe) shows that Azure Virtual Desktop can be more than four times cheaper than an alternative. An alternative DaaS service can offer 32 users on as many VMs for more than 4,000 euros per month, while for less than 1,000 euros p/m, Microsoft makes it possible to support this number of “users at peak” with only 3 VMs. Naturally, over the course of several years this amounts to enormous savings, making Azure a far more attractive choice than local offerings – or AWS.
The contrast with SQL Server Enterprise licensing is slightly less stark, but even there, Microsoft is pulling ahead by making other services 17.7 percent more expensive versus Azure. CISPE has shared the full breakdown with The Register, which received no response from Microsoft.
Concessions from Microsoft aren’t likely
In November 2022, CISPE filed a complaint with European competition authorities about this strategy. Microsoft tried to settle in May 2023, but according to CISPE, the amount proposed wasn’t worth considering.
A dialogue was finally opened between the two parties in early February. At the time, CISPE confirmed that negotiations had begun. The consortium spoke of “ending unfair software licensing.” The fact that already a month later, reports are emerging from CISPE to illustrate Microsoft’s ills, we’re offered little reason for an amicable solution. Therefore, it appears concessions from the tech giant are not likely.
Microsoft cloud leads in Europe
CISPE has 27 members, with only AWS as a non-European participant. Since that hyperscaler is lagging behind Microsoft on this continent, it is unsurprising that AWS is joining the attack. Azure alternatives are also trying to make their mark on other fronts. For example, AWS announced this week that it is eliminating egress fees, allowing customers to pull their data from the cloud platform at no cost (previously, they could do so up to a maximum of 100GB). This was in line with Google Cloud, which took a similar step earlier this year. For now, Microsoft Azure only offers 100GB as a maximum, which incidentally is more than enough for most companies to pull data out of the cloud for free when moving away from Azure.
Also read: Google Cloud accuses Microsoft Azure of monopoly practices
17 hours ago
