Microsoft does not really see the unbundling of Teams within the EU as an act that has users’ best interests at heart. According to a memo to partners, it is a “compromise” and changes can still occur.
Recently, the tech giant reached an agreement with the EU and the EEA on taking Teams out of the Office 365 and Microsoft 365 bundles. In the process, the EU wants to allow more competition and choice for end users. The EU had launched an investigation for this and could decide to impose this unbundling of Teams.
Best options for EU users
Microsoft balked at this and said in a statement that the bundling of Teams was done to provide EU consumers with the best options. This will allow them to purchase the tech giant’s products cheaper from October this year and have more choice in using collaboration and conferencing tools from other providers. In short, all for the sake of EU and EEA end users.
Continue reading: The Teams-EU saga proves authorities rarely get a grip on Big Tech
Other reading Microsoft
In a memo to partners, seen by The Register, Microsoft presents the situation differently. According to the tech giant, it decided to unbundle Teams for the EU and EEA region as a compromise.
Microsoft went along with the EU to avoid potential issues surrounding the operation of Teams for its end customers, partners and resellers. Thus, the agreement was not entirely voluntary, although the tech giant has indicated otherwise.
In the memo, Microsoft further indicates that the unbundling of Teams may still be undone at a later date. The tech giant still sees the combination of Microsoft 365 with Teams as the best option for customers. Therefore, it continues to work with the EC and EU to still settle the case in its favour.
Read also: Why Microsoft keeps pushing the limit by forcing its software on you