CMA proposes Microsoft strategic market status review

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has proposed designating Microsoft with strategic market status in its business software ecosystem and has opened consultation before making a final decision.

• The CMA says it will gather further evidence on bundling, Copilot/AI choice, security product integration, and cloud licensing, with a roadmap of possible interventions aimed at improving choice for UK businesses and public sector organisations.
• The CMA also provided an update on its cloud services engagement with Microsoft and AWS, saying both companies have made material steps including removing or reducing data transfer fees, enabling interoperability requests, and rolling out AI tools to support cloud switching; a further update is due in Spring 2027.