cloud licensing

Amid the relentless advance of artificial intelligence across global industries, German enterprises find themselves at a critical crossroads: embracing Microsoft’s rapidly evolving AI and cloud platforms, but wrestling with deep uncertainties about return on investment. This tension is starkly...

Microsoft’s ever-evolving cloud strategy is taking another significant leap with a slate of changes to its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) partner contracts, designed to streamline deal-making, improve customer lifecycle management, and sharpen the competitive edge of the global partner ecosystem...

Microsoft is again rewriting the playbook for its Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) ecosystem, unveiling a suite of major contractual changes set to roll out through 2025. These updates, spearheaded by Nicole Dezen, the company’s chief partner officer and corporate vice president of global partner...

Microsoft’s announcement strikingly expands the boundaries of what’s possible with software-as-a-service (SaaS) billing and licensing, marking a shift from the industry’s rigid, “one-size-fits-all” subscription rates toward a new paradigm: partners can now craft private offers that give buyers...

Microsoft’s approach to cloud licensing has created a complex landscape for enterprises moving to the cloud, particularly those with substantial investments in Windows Server and SQL Server. The issue, as outlined by submissions from Amazon and Google to the UK Competition and Markets Authority...

Microsoft's response to the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding the regulator's provisional ruling on cloud software licensing pricing is robust and critical. Microsoft calls the CMA's intervention "extraordinary and unprecedented," emphasizing that no other software provider...

The contemporary cloud computing market is a battleground dominated by a few colossal players, most notably Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This dominance inevitably attracts scrutiny from regulators focused on ensuring fair competition and...

The ongoing competition tug-of-war in the cloud services market highlights a critical point: Microsoft's licensing policies for its software, particularly Windows Server, heavily influence the viability and economics of multi-cloud deployments. According to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft's...

When enterprises contemplate moving their IT workloads to the cloud, those with significant investments in Microsoft infrastructure typically confront a challenging dilemma. For organizations deeply reliant on Windows Server and SQL Server, the prospect of rewriting applications or migrating...

The recent developments around Microsoft's licensing practice for Windows Server and its impact on cloud competition have ignited a significant regulatory and industry debate centered on fair market dynamics, consumer costs, and innovation in cloud services. Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google...

As companies increasingly look to migrate their applications and infrastructure to the cloud, a significant hurdle has emerged for those heavily invested in Microsoft software ecosystems: the near impossibility of simply swapping Microsoft Windows and SQL Server workloads for Linux-based...

Microsoft's licensing practices relating to the deployment of its software on competing cloud platforms such as AWS and Google Cloud continue to raise substantial competitive concerns, especially highlighted by the UK's Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) investigation. The crux of the issue...

The ongoing clash between Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft regarding licensing costs underlines a critical competitive dynamic shaping the cloud computing landscape, especially concerning the use of Microsoft software on cloud platforms not owned by Microsoft. AWS’s recent submission to...

Microsoft’s licensing practices for Windows Server in the cloud have become a significant point of contention in the competitive cloud computing market, especially regarding how these practices impact major cloud rivals like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud. Since Microsoft’s 2019...

The current landscape of cloud computing reveals an intense battleground dominated by the biggest three players: Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP). This triad controls the majority of cloud infrastructure, shaping patterns of customer choice, pricing...

Cloud Competition at a Crossroads: Dissecting the Microsoft Licensing Conundrum The landscape of the cloud services market in the UK is currently undergoing a high-stakes review with ramifications that extend far beyond British shores. At the crux of debate is Microsoft’s approach to licensing...

Cloud Competition and Microsoft’s Licensing: The Fault Lines Beneath Azure and AWS Within the ever-accelerating arms race for cloud dominance, the licensing practices of tech titans shape not just bottom lines but the very freedom of choice for enterprise customers. Beneath the surface of...

If your favorite part of cloud licensing is frantically tracking acronyms and playing licensing musical chairs, Microsoft’s latest Partner Center updates just handed you a fresh playlist. Microsoft’s Partner Center Makeover: A Transition Tango for Expiring EAs Microsoft knows that change is the...

Mizuho’s bullish outlook on Microsoft’s cloud businesses could almost make even the most stoic IT manager do a little celebratory tap dance behind their monitor—assuming they aren’t already busy updating scripts for the next round of mysterious compliance checks. But beyond the jubilation in the...

Imagine a world where your choice of cloud provider is as simple as choosing between chocolate or vanilla ice cream at your favorite gelato shop. No guilty upcharges. No complicated fine print. Just pure, unbridled freedom—a world, in other words, the UK’s Competition & Markets Authority seems...