After receiving a complaint from Slack, the European Commission initiated an investigation into Microsoft’s integration of Office and Teams.
There are indications that Microsoft is considering the possibility of separating its Teams software from the rest of its Office offerings.
Microsoft’s decision and the EU’s scrutiny follow the previous announcement that tech giants such as Google and Apple may face regulatory challenges in the European Union.
Microsoft may consider separating its Teams software from the rest of its Office offerings. The actions come after the EU allegedly investigated the tech giant due to complaints from rivals. In addition to this, the EU is imposing penalties on Apple and Google in accordance with its new Digital Laws.
Microsoft plans to separate Teams from the rest of the Office.
As reported by Reuters, Microsoft recently announced that it will now offer its chat and video program Teams separately from its Office suite on a global scale. This move comes six months after the company decided to unbundle the two products in Europe in an effort to prevent any potential EU antitrust charges.
In 2020, the European Commission initiated an investigation into Microsoft’s integration of Office and Teams following a complaint from Slack, a rival workspace messaging software owned by Salesforce.
What caused the problem with Microsoft Teams?
Teams, a free addition to Office 365 in 2017, eventually replaced Skype for Business. The video conferencing feature of Teams became increasingly popular during the pandemic.
However, rivals argued that Microsoft had an unfair advantage due to the bundling of its products. Starting on October 1st of last year, the company decided to sell the two products individually across the European Union and Switzerland.
EU Increases Oversight of Tech Giants
The decision by Microsoft and the scrutiny from the EU follows the previous announcement that major tech companies such as Google and Apple may face regulatory challenges in the European Union. There may be significant penalties linked to the European Union’s inquiries into whether Apple Inc. and Alphabet Inc.’s Google adhere to the new regulations that limit the influence of Big Tech.
According to insiders, the European Commission is reportedly gearing up to announce in the coming days that it will be launching investigations into various corporations under the bloc’s Digital Markets Act. The EU’s primary concern will be the increased costs, rules, and conditions imposed by Apple and Google on app store developers.
