It’s important to note that these “half-hearted measures” in the EU do not apply to US-based Microsoft customers, he pointed out. Allegations around product tying, notably with Microsoft 365, continue to arise regularly in the US.
For instance, Microsoft’s Listed Providers program does not allow Microsoft on-premises software to be deployed on certain dedicated hosted cloud services, including rivals Amazon, Google, and Alibaba, without mobility rights and Software Assurance (SA), its volume licensing support add-on. Bickley pointed out that Microsoft “strategically” excludes products from its License Mobility program which allows customers to move workloads to other clouds.
Some of these excluded products and applications include Windows Server, Visual Studio, Windows desktop OS, Microsoft Office, and Microsoft 365. Previously, such products could be deployed in a dedicated cloud environment, but Microsoft changed the rules in October 2019, restricting this option to licenses purchased with SA and mobility rights. Bickley pointed out that this only applies to Listed Providers and excludes traditional outsourcing services.
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