Microsoft is closing in on a multimillion-euro deal with Amazon-backed cloud lobby CISPE to get it to drop an antitrust complaint, according to two industry officials with knowledge of the proposal.

This would see the group of cloud providers withdraw a request for the European Commission to investigate Microsoft’s cloud-licensing agreements, shutting down a potential antitrust standoff.

The deal hasn’t yet been accepted by members of the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), said the people, who were granted anonymity to discuss sensitive negotiations.

The pact would include a possible multimillion-euro payment to the trade association, they said. One said separate payments could also be made to individual companies.

As part of any settlement, CISPE and its members would also agree not to file legal complaints against Microsoft in any country worldwide.

Brad Smith, Microsoft’s president, will meet the EU’s antitrust chief Margrethe Vestager when he visits Brussels on June 4 for talks on competition and artificial intelligence.

Microsoft said it continues “to work constructively with CISPE to resolve concerns raised by European cloud providers.” The company declined to comment on the size of any potential agreement.

CISPE said in a statement that “discussions with Microsoft are ongoing, and proposals have been made. However, no agreement has been reached.”

The Brussels-based cloud trade association urged the European Commission in 2022 to investigate Microsoft for allegedly abusing its power over software licensing terms.

The cloud lobby said the company’s anti-competitive practices led to discriminatory pricing and locked customers into services, effectively preventing them from moving to rival cloud providers. Microsoft has denied those allegations.

CISPE currently receives financial support from Amazon, one of Microsoft’s global competitors in the cloud computing industry, in an increasingly bitter lobbying battle between the two American tech giants.

Amazon declined to comment.

While the European Commission has asked questions about the issue, it hasn’t moved to open a formal antitrust investigation.

Microsoft has been trying to resolve the issue, making changes to cloud licensing last year.

In February, CISPE confirmed it had “opened discussions” with Microsoft to resolve the dispute, but stressed that “any remedies and resolution must apply across the sector and to be accessible to all cloud customers in Europe.” That would include those of its biggest member, and cloud market leader, Amazon.

IBM has announced that its software portfolio in AWS marketplace is expanding, and is now available in 92 countries.

The software is currently available in Denmark, France, Germany, United Kingdom and United States. However, the expansion beyond these countries aims to make procurement easier for clients, streamline purchasing and create new efficiencies, while allowing them to use their AWS committed spend for IBM software purchases.

The expansion will provide clients with more access to IBM’s AI and data technologies within a portfolio of 44 listings and 29 SaaS offerings that are available for purchase. These include components of the watsonx AI and data platform, which allow enterprises to build, scale and govern AI workloads.

For example, Watsonx.data is a fit-for-purpose data store built on an open data lakehouse architecture, and Watsonx.ai is a next generation enterprise studio for AI builders are available in AWS Marketplace, alongside two of IBM’s AI Assistants – watsonx Assistant and watsonx Orchestrate. Watsonx.governance is expected to be available soon.

Other software includes IBM’s flagship database Db2 Cloud Pak for Data as well as a portfolio of automation software including Apptio, Turbonomic and Instana, and the IBM Security and Sustainability software portfolios – all built on Red Hat OpenShift Service on AWS.

The company is also launching 15 new IBM Consulting professional services and assets on AWS Marketplace, exclusively designed for AWS. To align with client needs and demand, the offerings focus on data and application modernization, security services and tailored industry-specific solutions – with generative AI capabilities included in select services.

Matt Yanchyshyn, general manager, AWS Marketplace and partner services, AWS said: “IBM’s global expansion with AWS Marketplace opens up innovation opportunities for our joint customers across the world.

“By leveraging the speed and simplified procurement capabilities of AWS Marketplace, customers can now more easily access IBM’s cutting-edge solutions, enabling them to accelerate their digital transformation and drive innovation at scale. This expanded collaboration between AWS and IBM reflects our shared commitment to empowering customers with the tools and resources they need to succeed in today’s fast-paced environment.”

Nick Otto, head of global strategic partnerships, IBM, said: “By expanding the availability of our software portfolio in AWS Marketplace, organizations around the world will have greater access to a streamlined way to procure many IBM AI and hybrid cloud offerings to help propel their business forward.”

VMware by Broadcom has made some fresh concessions to its cloud service provider community – and the customers who rely on it.

As reported in March, not all members of VMware’s Cloud Services Provider (VCSP) program were invited to continue. Those dropped as VCSP members were instead offered the chance to acquire white label services from remaining participants in the program, with a tight deadline to sort out those new arrangements.

In mid-April, Broadcom CEO Hock Tan promised an extended period of “modified monthly billing arrangements until the white label offers are available.”

Now VMware’s veep for partners and advanced solutions sales, Ahmar Mohammad, has offered more detail on the arrangements.

His post reveals that all existing VCSP premier tier members will retain that status, and that special exemptions may be granted to “partners not yet signed up for the program and that may have unique regulatory constraints or country specific sovereign data requirements (example: European Economic Area and United Kingdom).”

That sounds a lot like a concession to Eurocloud lobby CISPE, which has strongly criticized Broadcom and called for a European Commission probe into the acquisitive giant’s takeover of VMware.

Another big change sees partners that exited the VCSP program allowed to continue operating their cloud services until the end of April 2025. Such partners – some of whom did not choose to exit the program but were shown the door – previously faced the prospect of immediately closing their clouds and/or signing up to resell white label services.

The sudden migrations necessitated by that change were obviously not easily achieved. Now cloud providers that quit VMware – and their customers – have a year to sort things out.

Another change means VCSP partners have an extra month to seek an exemption that will let them continue in the program, or sign up for white label services from another partner. That’s not a huge amount of extra time but, again, will offer some relief to what was previously a very short deadline to make changes. Some new classes of partners are also allowed to become white label providers.