Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has issued its third European Cloud Competition Observatory (ECCO) report, praising Microsoft’s licensing concessions while accusing Broadcom of worsening anti-competitive practices.

The European cloud vendor forum has 38 members, according to its website. Amazon Web Services used to be on its board, but the cloud giant exited after the trade association changed the rules for admission to block non-European cloud vendors with annual revenues exceeding €10 billion.

This is the third ECCO report on Broadcom. The first was published in February 2025, and the second came in May 2025, when the majority of CISPE members had entered into new licensing agreements. At the time, it was noted [PDF] that “these agreements were often signed under significant pressure, influenced by a lack of alternatives, abrupt contract terminations, and financial incentives such as rebates for longer-term commitments.”

The situation has not improved since May. On July 24, CISPE filed an action challenging the European Commission’s decision on July 12, 2023, to approve Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware.

The latest report criticises the “unilateral market distorting program changes” and “significant new forms of unfair licensing behaviour being imposed by Broadcom on European cloud providers and their customers.”

Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware and the subsequent price hikes haven’t gone down well with all customers, to the point that many have been considering alternatives. Thierry Carrez, general manager of the foundation behind one such alternative, OpenStack said: “Broadcom’s handling of VMware is a good example of the risk of trusting your infrastructure software fate to a single vendor. Those companies can be bought, can change direction, can change licensing terms anytime they want.”

“Broadcom continues to tighten the screws on Europe’s cloud infrastructure sector,” said CISPE. “A lack of action from EU competition authorities to check the worsening anti-competitive behaviours of Broadcom has led CISPE to challenge the European Commission’s initial approval of the acquisition of VMware by Broadcom.”

The org also fired a warning shot at SAP and Citrix over lock-in and abuse of dominance. The latter, CISPE noted, “is potentially following a similar route to Broadcom in unilateral and dramatic changes to licensing terms.”

Still, Microsoft got a pat on the back, even though, a few short months ago, it earned CISPE’s ire for failing to deliver a special version of Azure for EU cloud providers, a condition set by the group for dropping an antitrust complaint. In July, CISPE wrung a concession from Microsoft on lower licensing fees, but a complaint about the technical tie-in between Entra ID and Microsoft 365 remains. As such, the report notes “there is still work to do.”

“Similarly, other hyperscalers were not covered under the agreement with Microsoft.”

“It doesn’t come as a huge surprise after Microsoft joined CISPE earlier this year,” Frank Karlitschek, CEO and founder, Nextcloud, said of Redmond’s positive portrayal. “We need industry associations that pursue benefits for the wider market and ensure a level playing field.”

Nicky Stewart, senior advisor to the Open Cloud Coalition said: “Unfair software licensing practices continue to distort Europe’s cloud ecosystem – restricting customer choice, locking in users, and protecting entrenched monopolies at the expense of innovation.

“The ECCO process is no replacement for formal antitrust enforcement. Without real authority, it cannot deliver accountability. Europe’s cloud market urgently needs decisive regulatory action to restore fair competition.”

The ECCO group was set up in 2024 to monitor cloud licensing. It came about following a deal with Microsoft to avoid a formal European Commission probe over alleged anti-competitive behaviour regarding the cost of running Microsoft’s software outside its datacenters.

With Windows 10 support set to expire on October 14, hundreds of repair shops, non-profits, and advocacy groups are urging Microsoft to extend free and automatic security updates instead of stranding hundreds of millions of PCs.

The letter, organised by consumer activist non-profit US Public Interest Research Group (PIRG), was signed by 382 repair businesses and nonprofits worldwide, as well as 83 elected representatives, 19 librarians and school officials, and 49 consumer advocacy and environmental organisations. They’re all worried that they, and many other PC owners, stand to lose big if Microsoft follows through with its plans to end support for Windows 10 in less than two weeks.

“About 40 percent of PCs currently in use can’t upgrade to Windows 11, even if users want to,” the letter reads. “That means when Microsoft stops providing security updates for Windows 10, those computers will either be insecure and unsafe to keep using, or else turn into junk and get thrown out.”

Along with the business-led letter to Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, PIRG said it also passed along a petition to Microsoft signed by more than 16,000 US citizens. French non-profit Stop Planned Obsolescence has also been circulating a petition to extend free Windows 10 security updates, which has been signed by more than 44,000 individuals.

Critics argue Microsoft’s Windows 11 push is worsening the world’s growing e-waste problem. As we’ve noted before, the supported upgrade path requires PCs to have Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 – a hardware-based security component found in many machines shipped over the past five years – along with other modern hardware. Unofficial bypasses exist, but they aren’t supported and may break in future updates.

In practice, that leaves a huge chunk of hardware behind – PIRG estimates around 400 million Windows 10 machines can’t meet Windows 11’s requirements. While Microsoft has patched certain TPM bypasses, many argue that such devices may never be officially upgradeable.

“Cutting off support from hundreds of millions of computers is uniquely harmful to consumers, the environment and public safety,” PIRG right to repair campaign director Nathan Proctor said in a statement. “Simply put, there have never been more computers cut off from support in one fell swoop.”

While support for Windows 10 officially ends in a couple of weeks, it won’t be completely going away – those who really want to keep the security updates flowing can sign with Microsoft to get a year of extended security updates for the price of $30, redemption of 1,000 Microsoft Rewards points, or opting to sync their PC’s settings to the cloud using Windows Backup.

Microsoft recently caved on providing free Windows 10 updates to European residents following complaints from consumer rights groups and threats to lodge a Digital Markets Act complaint.

Windows 11 continues to be a slow-seller – it took the OS four years to finally surpass Windows 10 as the leading version of the PC OS, and even then, it still doesn’t have a true majority. According to Statcounter, which measures market share of various platforms based on traffic to more than 1.5 million monitored web sites, Windows 11 holds 48.94 percent of the Windows market share, down from a high of 53 percent in July.

Curiously enough, Windows 7 has been experiencing a resurgence in popularity in the past few months, climbing from just two percent of the Windows market share in July to nearly 10 percent in September. No matter how you slice it, it seems like people really don’t want to upgrade to Windows 11.

The European Commission has launched a formal investigation into SAP’s behaviour in the aftermarket for maintenance and support services in Europe.

Following a preliminary investigation, the executive branch of the European Union said there were grounds to consider whether the enterprise application behemoth may have distorted competition in the lucrative aftermarket for on-prem software support.

In a prepared statement, Teresa Ribera, EC executive vice-president for clean, just and competitive transition, said: “Thousands of companies across Europe use SAP’s software to run their business, as well as its related maintenance and support services. We are concerned that SAP may have restricted competition in this crucial aftermarket, by making it harder for rivals to compete, leaving European customers with fewer choices and higher costs.

“This is why we want to have a closer look at SAP’s potentially distortive business practices, to make sure that companies that rely on SAP’s software can freely choose the maintenance and support services that best fits their business needs.”

An SAP spokesperson said that the new proceedings are based on maintenance and support policies that follow well-worn standards that are common across the global software sector. “SAP believes that its policies and actions are fully in line with competition rules. However, we take the issues raised seriously and are working closely with the Commission to resolve them,” they said.

SAP said it did not expect its engagement with the EC would result in material impacts on its financial performance.

“As a major European player in a very dynamic global industry, SAP is committed to open competition. We trust the European Commission will aim for a quick and fair conclusion to these proceedings,” the spokesperson said.

The Commission’s concerns, resulting from the early investigation, include SAP’s requirement that customers seek maintenance and support services from SAP for all their SAP on-premises ERP software, and choose the same type of maintenance and support under the same pricing conditions for all their SAP on-premises ERP software. The EC argues that this may stop customers from “mixing and matching” services from different suppliers at different prices and support levels.

The EC also said that SAP prevents customers from terminating maintenance and support services for unused software licenses, which it argues could result in customers paying for unwanted services.

SAP also systematically extends the initial term of on-premises ERP licenses without allowing termination of maintenance and support, the EC said.

Additionally, the Commission took issue with the fact that SAP charges for reinstating maintenance deals and allegedly for back-maintenance if customers take a break from SAP support arrangements.

“In some cases, these fees correspond to the amount customers would have paid if they had stayed with SAP all along,” the EC said.

Valued at about €275 billion, SAP is the dominant supplier of enterprise software in Europe, with many of the continent’s largest manufacturers and industrial companies relying on its ERP systems. Since early 2021, it has been pushing a strategic initiative to move customers to the cloud and Software-as-a-Service. The company has said it will not offer mainstream support for widely used legacy ERP system ECC beyond 2027 and only offer extended support – at a 2 percent premium – until the end of 2030.

While third-party support is available for SAP systems, German-speaking user group DSAG said recently that users should be aware they might lose out on discounts should they wish to rejoin the vendor’s upgrade path.

SAP’s licensing policies are top of mind at the conference of the German-speaking SAP User Group (DSAG) this week.

While the cloud is the right way forward, DSAG members need transparency from SAP to allow them to make the move, DSAG chairman Jens Hungershausen said in a pre-event post.

“For cloud transformation to succeed, you need a consistent and harmonised architecture, uniform operating models, clear migration paths, and transparent licensing and discount models that can be scaled up and down,” he said.

For many organisations, the journey into the ‘new’ SAP cloud world still begins with SAP ECC or the ‘old’ Business Suite, and sometimes with S/4HANA On-Premises. When SAP discontinued its RISE with SAP package in April, replacing it with the similar but not identical Cloud ERP Private, subtle but significant changes in licensing and product components meant that CIOs faced increased costs and more complexity navigating that journey.

Gartner VP Analyst Mike Tucciarone said at the time, “With Cloud ERP Private, organisations receive nearly twice as many bundled SKUs compared to RISE with SAP Premium. While there are strategic additions like LeanIX, it’s important to note that some capabilities, such as SAP Datasphere, are no longer included.”

The European Commission (EC) has agreed to commitments proposed by Microsoft to address antitrust concerns related to the integration of Teams with its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites.

These measures will be legally binding under EU antitrust laws.

The commission’s investigation focused on Microsoft’s practice of bundling Teams with widely used productivity applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook.

This practice raised concerns about potential anticompetitive behaviour by limiting opportunities for rival communication and collaboration tools.

To resolve these issues, Microsoft will provide versions of Office 365 and Microsoft 365 without Teams at a reduced price. Customers, including those with long-term licenses, will have the option to switch to these new versions.

The company will also enhance interoperability between competing products and Microsoft services, alongside improving data portability from Teams to other platforms.

Additionally, Microsoft will modify its licensing and pricing structures in line with these commitments while ensuring customer needs are met. From 1 November 2025, customers can choose between product suites with or without Teams globally.

The EC’s investigation, launched in July 2023, preliminarily found concerns about Microsoft’s integration of Teams since April 2019.

This practice might breach Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by restricting competition within the European Economic Area market for software-as-a-service productivity applications.

A market test conducted between May and June 2025 assessed Microsoft’s commitments. Based on the feedback, Microsoft agreed to increase the price difference between packages with and without Teams by 50% for certain business segments.

The tech giant also committed to prominently advertising both options.

EC clean, just, and competitive transition executive vice-president Teresa Ribera said: “Organisations big and small across Europe and around the world rely heavily on videoconferencing, chat and collaboration tools, especially since the coronavirus pandemic.

“With today’s decision, we make binding for seven years or more Microsoft’s commitments to put an end to its tying practices that may be preventing rivals from effectively competing with Teams.”

This agreement follows complaints from Slack Technologies and alfaview regarding Microsoft’s alleged competitive conduct. Both entities retracted their complaints following Microsoft’s proposed commitments.

Under EU antitrust regulations, companies can offer commitments during investigations to address concerns without concluding an infringement.

Non-compliance could lead to substantial fines or daily penalties based on global turnover.