Controversy between major cloud operators over the EU market is heating up. After Google announced the creation of the Open Cloud Coalition, a lobbying group in this area, in which it is accompanied by several smaller cloud providers, Microsoft did not hesitate to accuse the company of conducting what it defined as “covert operations to influence”. cloud regulations adopted in the European Union in their favor. At Microsoft, of course, they believe that they want to hurt them with these moves.

This is what he pointed out in the post Rima Alaily, Deputy General Counsel, Microsoftwhich calls the Open Cloud Coalition “an astroturfing group hosted by Google” and points out that Google has “gone too far in obfuscating its involvement, funding and control” and has positioned smaller cloud providers in Europe as the face of the coalition.

Alaily assures that “We believe that when the group is launched, Google will likely be present as a supporting member rather than its leader. It remains to be seen what it offered to smaller companies to join the group, whether cash or discounts«.

The coalition, which formally launched today, is led by Techcrunche Nicky Stewart, Public Sector Director at UK hosting company Civo. According to Stewart, the coalition is transparent with its members who appear on its website. In addition to Google and Civo, it includes Centerprise international, Gigas, ControlPlane, DTP Group, Prolinx, Pulsant, Clairo and Room 101.

Stewart also points out, presumably in response to Microsoft’s accusations, that they are not against other companies and that they are “pro-market coalition, aimed at defending the principles that will strengthen the cloud services market in Europe, especially interoperability and openness. Any company that shares these values ​​and cares about a healthy and strong cloud market should join us«.

But the confrontation between Microsoft and other cloud providers is nothing new in Europe. It dates back to 2019, when Redmond changed a license that made it more expensive to run Microsoft’s enterprise software on competing cloud services. This prompted CISPE, a non-profit association of cloud infrastructure providers in Europe, to file a monopoly complaint against Microsoft with the EU, alleging that the company used its market dominance to lock customers into Azure.

Microsoft settled last July with CISPE, which will require it to pay $22 million and make changes to make it easier for cloud providers to run Microsoft software on their own infrastructure. But the deal leaves out major hyperscalers like AWS, Alibaba and Google.

Google, which is not a member of CISPE, filed another separate complaint about the same issue against Microsoft last month, but only after it offered CISPE $470 million to not settle with Microsoft over its complaint, which they rejected.

Alaily points out that Google’s efforts in this sector are designed to distract from the various regulatory trials it faces in other areas, such as the United States: «Google appears to have two goals with its astroturfing efforts: to deflect attention from the intense regulatory scrutiny it faces worldwide by discrediting Microsoft, and to change the regulatory landscape to favor its cloud services rather than compete on merit.«.

But Google points out that they have been very clear about Microsoft’s cloud licensing practices. According to the company, “We and many others believe that Microsoft’s anti-competitive practices lock out customers and create negative effects that affect cybersecurity, choice and innovation.«.