- The CMA was given nine months to decide whether Microsoft has a strategic market status
- The company has 15 million commercial users in the UK, including in the public sector
- Software blending and third-party tool integration are at the heart of the study
The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has launched an investigation into Microsoft’s business software to determine whether the US tech giant has excessive market power in the country.
Competition, consumer choice, innovation and pricing are all ready to be analyzed in the Strategic Market Status (SMS) study.
The UK investigation comes at an important time, with Microsoft now having more than 15 million commercial users across the UK, including across public sector organisations.
CMA SMS investigation of Microsoft hits full speed
Software is undergoing a major transformation as co-pilots and AI assistants become embedded, and many companies are even turning to fully autonomous, agentic workflows. With this, CMA wants to ensure that customers can still mix and match software from different vendors and integrate third-party AI into Microsoft’s suite to prevent vendor exclusivity and lock-in.
Regulators have raised concerns about the way Microsoft assembles its products, as well as interoperability limitations that make it challenging, expensive or impossible to integrate third-party tools and software.
“Our aim is to understand how these markets are evolving, Microsoft’s position within them and to consider what, if any, targeted action may be needed to ensure UK organizations can benefit from choice, innovation and competitive pricing,” explained CMA CEO Sarah Cardell.
If Microsoft is deemed to have too much control over the market, the CMA can impose interoperability requirements, bundling restrictions and other measures.
As for the next stages, the CMA plans to work with rival software vendors, challenger companies, enterprise customers and public organizations to get a clearer picture of the market.
“We are committed to working swiftly and constructively with the CMA to facilitate its review of the business software market,” a Microsoft spokesman said.
The CMA says its nine-month investigation will be “proportionate and transparent” and that a final decision on whether to appoint Microsoft with SMS will be made by February 2027.
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