Amidst an antitrust probe, Microsoft intends to detach Teams from Office 365 and Microsoft 365
Amidst an antitrust probe by the European Union (EU), Microsoft has declared intentions to separate Teams from its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites. The EU’s investigation into possible anticompetitive activity led to the ruling.
Users of Microsoft Office and Teams will have the choice to switch to new products that do not include Teams as of today, April 1. In addition, Microsoft is going to provide a new range of paid Office 365 and Microsoft 365 suites that exclude the Teams app.
The action comes after Microsoft decided to remove Teams from its European product lineup in response to the current antitrust probe. The investigation’s conclusion, nevertheless, has not yet been properly declared.
A representative for Microsoft said, “To ensure clarity for our customers, we are extending the steps we took last year to unbundle Teams from M365 and O365 in the European Economic Area and Switzerland to customers globally.” With this ruling, multinational corporations will have more freedom in their buying selections across various locations and the European Commission’s comments will be taken into consideration.
Microsoft Teams is a key member of the company’s productivity toolkit, with over 320 million monthly active users (MAUs) worldwide. It is a communication and collaboration platform.
The European Commission is looking into Microsoft’s business practices because it is worried about possible misuse of the market and limits on competition in the productivity software industry in the productivity software industry in the European Economic Area (EEA). The Commission is specifically looking into Microsoft’s behaviour with regard to Teams and other communication and collaboration tools.
Microsoft hopes to show that it is committed to resolving regulatory issues and promoting a competitive environment in the productivity software industry by separating Teams from its Office suites. Microsoft made the decision to unbundle Teams internationally in order to comply with regulatory requirements and provide customers with more freedom to choose the software solutions that best suit their needs.
Microsoft’s move to separate Teams from its Office suite highlights the company’s commitment to openness and adherence to antitrust laws in the European market and elsewhere, even while the investigation and regulatory scrutiny continue.
