Microsoft today announced that it will unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland. The changes will take effect on October 1, 2023.
The move comes after the European Commission opened a formal investigation into Microsoft’s bundling of Teams with its productivity suites. The Commission is concerned that the bundling could give Microsoft an unfair advantage over its competitors.
Under the new changes, customers in the European Economic Area (EEA) and Switzerland will be able to purchase Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites without Teams. The suites without Teams will be priced at €2 less per month or €24 less per year than the suites with Teams.
Microsoft also said that it will enhance its existing resources on interoperability with Microsoft 365 and Office 365. This includes creating new support resources to help application developers better understand the APIs and extensibility available for connecting with Teams.
Further, Microsoft will create new mechanisms to enable third-party solutions to host Office web applications. This will make it easier for competitors of Teams to rely on Microsoft’s functionality instead of building their own.
Microsoft believes that these changes balance the interests of its competitors with those of European business customers. The company said that it will continue to engage with the European Commission and listen to concerns in the marketplace.
Via: WSJ
