[ad_1]
Europe has a new lobby, one with a specific mission to “improve competition, transparency and resilience” in the cloud computing sector.
the Open Cloud Alliance The OCC has 10 members at launch, most notably Google, with support from cloud service providers spanning international and local markets including Centreprise International, Sifu, gigas, Control plane, DTP Group, Prolinx, spring, Clairo and Room 101. Part of its work will include conducting cloud market research and presenting the findings to regulators in both the EU and the UK, while “participating in consultations on competition and market fairness,” according to a statement issued today.
The launch comes just hours after Microsoft’s Deputy General Counsel, Rima Al-Alayli, pre-empted the announcement, publishing a blog post accusing Google of conducting a “shadow campaign” to influence cloud regulation in Europe. Al-Aleeli described the new organization as “a group of wily turf organized by Google,” adding that Google had “made significant efforts to obscure its involvement, funding and control” by using smaller European cloud providers as the face of the alliance.
The OCC can be broadly compared to another industry trade organization called Cloud Infrastructure Service Providers in Europe (Sisbe), which launched in 2017 and includes Amazon’s AWS as a major member along with dozens of smaller players. In fact, the OCC agreement is a direct response to the settlement Microsoft reached with CISPE members (not including AWS) to abandon Antitrust complaint Against changing the license Microsoft introduced it in 2019which made running Microsoft enterprise software on competing cloud services more expensive.
That July settlement, which included a $22 million payment as well as promises to make it easier for smaller cloud providers to run Microsoft software on their own infrastructure, prompted Google to launch its very own complaint with the European Commission (EC), alleging that… Microsoft is using anti-competitive licensing practices to force companies to stay on Azure cloud infrastructure.
The arrival of the Office for the Coordination of External Transactions comes at an appropriate time, with a new European Commission He is scheduled to take officewhile The UK is also currently conducting an in-depth investigation into the cloud market Consider vendor lock-in practices. AWS and Microsoft are the primary focus of the investigation As market leadersThe results are expected to be published in 2025.
The coalition is headed by Nikki StewartPublic Sector Director for a UK cloud hosting company Sifuwhich says that as cloud infrastructure becomes the norm, companies increasingly find themselves “trapped in restrictive agreements, and face high costs and barriers” when trying to switch providers.
“The OCC is determined to reverse this trend by promoting a more competitive and flexible market and driving the adoption of open standards,” Stewart said in a statement.
While Microsoft insists that Google is the main driving force for the OCC in terms of support, DJA Groupa “consulting firm” enlisted to drive recruitment for the coalition, said it did not disclose individual member contributions. However, she added that the total funding will eventually be announced through EU Transparency Register.
[ad_2]