REGULATION
customers are already heavily invested in one ecosystem, resellers and MSP’s may have limited scope to recommend different providers, even where it might be beneficial.” “Resellers are caught in the middle of a market that was never designed with their interests in mind,” added Auphan. “When two companies control the majority of cloud infrastructure, resellers have very little negotiating power on pricing, very little flexibility on licensing terms, and very little ability to differentiate their offering. “Through 2025 and now into 2026, we’re seeing massive portions of the internet go offline because of outages at a single hyperscaler. That’s not just a reliability problem; it’s a warning about what over-concentration does to an entire ecosystem. Resellers need a genuinely competitive market to build sustainable businesses. Right now, they’re building on over-concentrated foundations they don’t control.” BSP With margins, reliability, and the ability to stand out from the pack at stake, the MSPs and resellers who rely on these services will be keeping an eye out for the finding of the CMA’s investigation. With that being said, according to Arnold, the Best Solution Possible is one that “delivers genuine choice, transparency and flexibility for customers. “That means addressing the barriers that make it difficult to switch providers or run workloads across multiple platforms. Licensing models should be fair and consistent, without penalising organisations for choosing alternative clouds. Pricing should be clearer, particularly around areas such as data egress, so businesses can make informed decisions without unexpected costs. “Crucially, the outcome should not restrict growth or investment from the major players. Hyperscalers play a critical role in advancing cloud capabilities. The aim is to ensure that scale does not come at the expense of customer control.” “The ideal outcome isn’t just a fine or a set of recommendations that gather dust,” said Auphan. “Real change means structural reform to Microsoft’s licensing practices so that running Windows Server or SQL Server on a non- Microsoft cloud provider doesn’t cost five times more than running it on Azure. “It means enforceable interoperability standards, not voluntary commitments that can be quietly walked back. And it means creating the conditions for European and UK-based alternatives to compete on merit, not to be structurally disadvantaged before they even start. “When users, and businesses, can freely choose privacy-focused, independent alternatives without artificial barriers, everyone benefits. That’s not an anti-Microsoft argument. That’s an argument for a market that actually works. The CMA has the tools under the DMCCA to deliver real change. The question is whether it will use them with the urgency this moment demands.” X
Real change means structural so that running Windows Server or SQL Server on a non-Microsoft cloud provider doesn’t cost five times more than running it on Azure. “ reform to Microsoft’s licensing practices
27
cloudresellernews.co.uk
Powered by FlippingBook