Microsoft seeks to address EU antitrust concerns over complaints about messaging app Slack.
Concerns surround Microsoft Teams, whose rivals say it has gained an unfair advantage in the online video conferencing and collaboration market due to its integration into Microsoft 365.
Microsoft previously announced plans to change its terms to level the playing field in October 2022, citing "the importance of an open and competitive cloud economy in Europe" in a blog post (opens in a new pestaña).
Microsoft Teams against the competition
Reuters (opens in a new tab) sheds light on the company's long history of controversy, which has racked up 2.200 billion euros in fines over the past decade for cases involving tie-selling and other practices.
Microsoft, however, wants to emphasize its innocence. To counter threats from other companies, he explained that Teams (which was introduced in 2017) achieved significant growth during the pandemic thanks to its native video conferencing support, which allows people to meet virtually face-to-face. At the time, Slack didn't have such a tool, losing out to the likes of Microsoft and Google.
The European Union's antitrust watchdog has already sent out questionnaires to rivals, intended to challenge Microsoft's interoperability and bundling practices, something the company should be used to, following complaints about platform bundling. OneDrive cloud storage with Windows.
Unlike Microsoft's practices, Google and Zoom have worked together to make it easier for users to sign in on opposite platforms, reducing the need for companies to pay for multiple licenses.
Zoom users should be able to join Meet calls "across all platforms" by the end of the year, and while Meet users will need to be running ChromeOS-based Meet devices to join Zoom calls, it's a step in the right direction that could see Microsoft lose in the long run.
For now, Microsoft remains committed to improving its already popular platform by expanding accessibility features, adding new tools, and tweaking updates.