Regulators in the UK and EU could add real value by pushing for a single coalition with all the major cloud players, rather than ending up with competing ‘open’ coalition camps, as we had in the VHS/Beta video tape standard war, but on a larger scale, according to Phil Brunkard, executive counselor at Info-Tech Research Group, UK.
Brunkard was responding to a new alliance called the Open Cloud Coalition (OCC), launched Tuesday in the United Kingdom (UK) and European Union (EU), which is made up of cloud providers and users.
The group stated in the release that it plans to deliver research about “the cloud market, to inform UK and EU regulators, while engaging in consultations on competition and market fairness.”
It went on to say that its formation “comes at a pivotal moment, with regulators across Europe intensifying scrutiny on the cloud market. The UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is currently investigating potential anti-competitive practices by dominant cloud providers, a move that could reshape the industry. In parallel, other European countries, such as Spain and Denmark, are conducting their own inquiries, reflecting growing concerns about market concentration and vendor lock-in.”
The one wrinkle has to do with the fact that the organization is backed by Google, something which drew the ire of Microsoft deputy general council Rima Alaily in a post released on Monday. In it, she described the OCC as an “astroturf” group organized by Google and “designed to discredit Microsoft with competition authorities and policymakers, and mislead the public.”
The growing scrutiny on hyperscalers, especially in the UK market, said Brunkard, is “shifting things in the cloud industry. I think the recent accusations from Microsoft against Google just show the rising tensions between the big players, but honestly, the bigger issue seems to be how regulators are trying to handle competition and fairness in the cloud market.”
This new Open Cloud Coalition, whose members include Google Cloud, Civo, and ControlPlane, claims it’s all about fair competition and stronger regulatory oversight, he said, “but if this is supposed to be a truly open coalition, why aren’t other major players like Microsoft and AWS involved? How open is this coalition if key cloud providers aren’t part of it?”
According to Brunkard, “if the OCC were genuinely open, they’d likely want to bring in other big names like Microsoft and Amazon. Instead, it feels like they’re selectively excluding some, favoring those aligned with Google. Regulators may need to look closely to see if the other members are aligned with Google or if they have broader partnerships.”
He said, “until we see Google working alongside Microsoft and Amazon, any claims about being an open coalition focused on improving competition, transparency, and resilience are pretty questionable. It’s fair for Microsoft and others to wonder if the OCC is just a marketing play rather than genuinely committed to its mission.”
This story, he said, “goes beyond Microsoft and Google; to me, it shows a bigger trend where cloud providers are using alliances and lobbying to shape the regulatory environment.”
The UK, said Brunkard, has become a “hotspot for this, especially with the CMA investigating AWS and Microsoft after Ofcom raised concerns about anti-competitive practices. As scrutiny ramps up, I see the cloud giants positioning themselves as if they’re champions of openness and customer choice, while working to protect their own market positions.”
Regulators should also “scrutinize whether the OCC truly serves broader goals of competition, transparency, and resilience, or if it’s just another tool for certain players to further their own interests,” he said.
In the OCC release, spokesperson Nicky Stewart said, “as cloud infrastructure becomes indispensable, many businesses find themselves trapped in restrictive agreements, facing high costs and barriers when trying to switch or adopt multi-cloud strategies. The OCC is determined to reverse this trend by promoting a more competitive and flexible market and driving the adoption of open standards.”
Network World reached out to both EU and UK regulators for comment. The CMA declined, while a spokesperson for the EU said, “We are aware of the recent developments and have no specific comment. When it comes to the complaint against Microsoft submitted by Google, we can confirm its receipt and that we are currently assessing it under our standard procedures.”
Last month, Google told the EU that Microsoft is illegally using its dominant market position in Windows to force enterprises to use its Azure cloud service or face a 400% price penalty and a denial of upgrades and security patches.
The complaint said that Microsoft is only punishing enterprises if they try to use products from three rival companies: Google, AWS, and Alibaba Cloud. It said the Microsoft efforts “are simply an artificial and arbitrary financial penalty for not using Azure. If these penalties were to monetize Microsoft’s IP [intellectual property], then they would apply to all non-Azure cloud providers and not just Azure’s top competitors.”
Stewart said the launch of the OCC could not come at a “more critical time. As regulatory scrutiny increases, it’s vital that all voices are heard to ensure the cloud ecosystem remains competitive and innovative.”
Source:: Network World