Microsoft unbundles Teams from its software offerings to appease EU Commission​

By Jake Rickman
Image Credit: monticello / Shutterstock.​

What do you need to know this week?

As the Financial Times reported this Monday, software and computing giant Microsoft has announced that it will “unbundle” its Microsoft Teams software from its Office Suite. This is in an effort to avert the EU Commission’s investigation into Microsoft’s competitive practices.

As it currently stands, much of the Office Suite ecosystem is integrated with Teams. Therefore, a competitor like Slack or Zoom faces difficulty in aligning its software with other Microsoft software like Outlook and Word.

The effect of the unbundling is that competitors to Teams like Slack, which launched a formal complaint with the Commission against Microsoft three years ago, can more easily integrate their offerings into Microsoft’s Office Suite.

Why is this important for your interviews?

If you are interested in competition law, this is an example of how large groups with substantial market share across certain industries contend with laws aimed to curtail their market advantage.

Though not expressly acknowledged by Microsoft, it is hard to read this development without considering the recent scrutiny Microsoft received following its decision to acquire videogame developer Activision Blizzard.

The decision to unbundle Teams from its Office Suite is in the grand scheme of things not a particularly substantial move. That is, it does not mark a sale of Teams to a competitor. Instead, this is more of a “soft touch” approach that will see it make voluntary changes to how it lets customers use its software, as well as how competitors can integrate their offerings into Microsoft’s other software products.

Microsoft had proposed this move back in April as a condition for the EU Commission to withdraw its investigation. The Commission rejected Microsoft’s offer. Accordingly, it is unclear what, if anything, has changed such that the Commission would now suspend its investigation following Microsoft’s announcement.

How is this topic relevant to law firms?

Microsoft would have consulted with corporate and commercial legal advisers to determine the effect of any amendments to its customer and partner terms and conditions. This would also have involved intellectual property advice as well.

Likewise, its competition law advisers would have had a say in evaluating the extent to which this move may or may not appease the EU Commission (as well as other the competition authorities of other jurisdictions like the CMA).