Google Cloud's move to file a complaint with the European Commission over Microsoft's alleged anti-competitive business practices with Azure highlights how the cloud battle is moving to courtrooms and regulators.
The big three hyperscalers--Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and Google Cloud--were already ensconced in a sometimes chippy battle for market share. With its EC complaint, Google Cloud is upping the ante to include regulators.
Google Cloud has also made similar appeals to regulators in the UK where cloud marketplace competition is examined. Google Cloud's parent, Alphabet, has been targeted by EU regulators for its search business.
In a blog post, Google Cloud said Microsoft's licensing terms push European customers to Azure over competitor clouds if they want to preserve their Windows Server license pricing. Google Cloud alleges that Microsoft marks up its licensing costs if customers use other clouds.
In its UK testimony in July, Google Cloud noted that Microsoft's licensing practices designed to push customers to Azure had the biggest impact on enterprises, which have legacy ties to the software giant.
Google Cloud said:
“Like many others, we have attempted to engage directly with Microsoft. We have kicked off an industry dialogue on fair and open cloud licensing. And we have advocated on behalf of European customers and partners who fear retaliation in the form of audits or worse if they speak up. Unfortunately, instead of changing its practices, Microsoft has struck one-off deals with a small group of companies.”
While these antitrust complaints take time to play out, there are a few takeaways worth pondering.
Cloud costs are a big concern. Google Cloud's complaint in the EU vs. Azure is just the latest indicator that cloud costs are an issue. Akamai, which has its own cloud computing infrastructure as a service, has launched Project Cirrus to migrate third-party public cloud workloads to its own infrastructure. As a result, Akamai has been able to cut its public cloud costs by 40% in year one with 70% savings projected in year two.
- Akamai's IaaS vision: Become your cloud alternative
- Akamai adds Nvidia GPUs to cloud network, initially targeting media
- Akamai launches Gecko, aims to combine cloud compute, edge networks
Microsoft could alter pricing practices ahead of EC action assuming the Google Cloud complaint goes anywhere.
AI workloads will bring cloud costs under even more scrutiny. The playing field for AI workloads in the cloud is a little broader with the rise of specialist providers, but the big three dominate here too. The race for AI workloads is well underway and public cloud costs are likely to rise for most enterprises. Those costs are a big reason why on-premises AI infrastructure will be in the mix.
- DigitalOcean highlights the rise of boutique AI cloud providers
- Equinix, Digital Realty: AI workloads to pick up cloud baton amid data center boom
- The generative AI buildout, overcapacity and what history tells us
- AI infrastructure is the new innovation hotbed with smartphone-like release cadence
While the big three cloud players duke it out, Oracle Cloud may be a winner. After all, Oracle now has positioned its databases in all three hyperscalers and can be a beneficiary as enterprises move workloads around. Oracle has mastered the art of co-opetition in many ways.
