Google Cloud accuses Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud practices

Brussels: A day after an Indian tribunal upheld the anti-competitive practices charges on Alphabet, Google's parent organisation, its Google Cloud has come up accusing Microsoft of anti-competitive cloud computing practices, Reuters reported.

Google Cloud also criticised imminent deals with European cloud vendors and said that these do not solve broader concerns about its licensing terms.

Google Cloud Vice President Amit Zavery demanded European Union trust regulators take a closer look into the matter.

According to Reuters, the first-ever public comment against Microsoft by Google Cloud emphasises the rivalry between the two in the multi-billion dollar cloud computing business. Google Cloud is third in the business, while Amazon stands at the first position and Microsoft second.

Zavery told Reuters that Microsoft has a definite anti-competitive posture in the cloud. Microsoft is leveraging their dominance in the on-promise business as well as Office 365 and Windows to tie Azure and the rest of cloud services, making it hard for customers to have a choice.

He continued that when his company talk to their customers, it finds a lot of such bundling practices. The way Microsoft create pricing and licensing restrictions makes it difficult for them to choose other providers, Zavery said and criticised Microsoft's deals with smaller European cloud vendors.

Reuters learned that Microsoft has offered to change its cloud computing practices in a deal with smaller rivals in a bid to suspend their anti-trust complaints. The move will avert the chances of an EU investigation, too, the news agency reported.