Microsoft changes cloud licensing in the EU on Oct. 1, 2022

guest · Sep 3, 2022

by guenni - August 30, 2022

On October 1, 2022, Microsoft will change its licensing terms for its cloud offerings in Europe. These changes are intended to make it easier for cloud service providers to compete with Microsoft. This is probably a reaction to complaints about Microsoft to the EU antitrust authorities. That's because cloud service providers from Germany, Italy, Denmark and France have likely filed complaints against Microsoft with the EU Competition Commission.

Microsoft has published a post Easily bring your licenses to the cloud on the topic as of Aug. 29, 2022, in which the company announces some changes related to cloud licensing.
Click to expand...

Starting Oct. 1, 2022, Microsoft will introduce upgrades to its outsourcing and hosting terms that will allow customers to move their licenses (for Microsoft products) to a partner's cloud or use shared hardware.

The approach is intended to provide more flexibility in deployment options for Microsoft software licenses.
Click to expand...

Customers now have the choice of one- and three-year subscriptions for many products, including Windows Server, Remote Desktop Services (RDS) and SQL Server, through partners in the Cloud Solution Provider program to provide pricing stability with long-term subscriptions, according to the Microsoft announcement. How this all plays out in terms of pricing will have to be seen.
Click to expand...

The move is a response to a 2019 complaint to the EU Competition Commission from cloud service providers in Germany, Italy, Denmark and France. Microsoft's corporate blog says it "recognizes the importance of a competitive environment in the European market for cloud providers where smaller competitors can thrive."
Click to expand...

guest · Sep 3, 2022

Microsoft EU cloud revisions just so happen to exclude Google, Amazon
Move to appease EU partners bars running MS apps on competitors' infrastructure.
By Kevin Purdy - August 31, 2022

Facing European antitrust scrutiny, Microsoft has made it easier to virtualize its software on non-Microsoft cloud infrastructure—just so long as that infrastructure isn't owned by notable competitors Amazon, Google, or Alibaba.

The conflict, months in the making, is striking for a company that has largely avoided the antitrust scrutiny of its rivals, and eagerly sought to distance itself from the anti-competitive complaints and government actions that beset Microsoft in the late 1990s.
Click to expand...

Microsoft outlined the changes that would take effect on October 1 in a blog post. Nicole Dezen, chief partner officer, wrote that Microsoft "believes in the value of the partner ecosystem" and changed outsourcing and hosting terms that "will benefit partners and customers globally."

New licensing terms would make it easier for Microsoft's enterprise customers to bring Microsoft software to non-Microsoft infrastructure and scale the cost and size of theirs or their customer's Microsoft systems on their own hardware, according to Dezen's post.
Click to expand...

But Microsoft wants to be clear about something: Its Services Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) was meant for customers that are offering hosting "from their own data centers," not buying Microsoft licenses to "host on others' data centers." To "strengthen the hoster ecosystem," Dezen writes, Microsoft will remove the ability to outsource to Alibaba, Amazon Web Services, Google, Microsoft's Azure cloud, or anybody using those companies as part of their hosting.

Amazon and Google have weighed in, and they do not believe Microsoft is showing its newer, less anti-competitive side.

"Microsoft is now doubling down on the same harmful practices by implementing even more restrictions in an unfair attempt to limit the competition it faces—rather than listening to its customers and restoring fair software licensing in the cloud for everyone," an Amazon spokesperson told Reuters.
Click to expand...

Microsoft: New licensing benefits make bringing workloads and licenses to partners’ clouds easier

By Nicole Dezen - August 29, 2022
Microsoft believes in the value of the partner ecosystem, and in response to partner feedback, on October 1, 2022, Microsoft will implement major revisions and upgrades to its outsourcing and hosting terms that will benefit partners and customers globally.
With these changes, it is exciting to see the potential customer benefits that will enable new scenarios for how they can license and run workloads with infrastructure outsourcers.

Additionally, I am happy to share that the Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) program will have a new program option that enables participating partners to more effectively sell hosted solutions to customers, either with licenses included or to customers that are already licensed.
Click to expand...

These changes have three primary goals:

Make it easier for customers to bring their software to the partner’s cloud: Expanded use rights allow customers to run their software, including Windows 11, on hosters’ multitenant servers and more easily license virtual machines for Windows Server.

Ensure partners have access to the products necessary to sell cost-effective solutions that customers want: Create more opportunities for partners to work with more customers, to sell the solutions they need, and to run them where they prefer.

Empower partners to build hosted solutions with speed and scale: Enable partners to build hosted desktop and server solutions to help directly fulfill customers’ hosting needs.

Click to expand...

Log in or Sign up

Microsoft changes cloud licensing in the EU on Oct. 1, 2022

guest Guest

guest Guest

Log in or Sign up

Microsoft changes cloud licensing in the EU on Oct. 1, 2022

guest Guest

guest Guest

Useful Searches