Microsoft is still blocking some of its biggest customers from running Windows apps

Microsoft’s decision to discourage users from running its software on other non-company clouds, by means of increased cost, is still causing a headache for Google Cloud Platform and Alibaba customers.

Earlier this month, Redmond changed its terms to allow AWS customers to use its office software on the rival platform, however many are still being left out.

A couple of weeks have passed since the change, and still, the company has not indicated whether similar changes may be reflected for Google and Alibaba.

Microsoft discouraging rival cloud companies

From August 1, Microsoft confirmed that “users with specific licenses may run Microsoft 365 Apps for enterprise/business, Microsoft Project, and Microsoft Visio on Amazon WorkSpaces” virtual desktop infrastructure.

Microsoft declined to comment when we asked whether it would make similar concessions for Google and Alibaba. 

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According to anonymous sources close to Microsoft and rival companies (via The Register), “there's absolutely no technical reason” why Google and Alibaba should be locked out - “it is purely commercial.”

When the changes were made for AWS customers, we asked Microsoft to comment on why this was. The company has not commented, and it remains unclear why AWS received preferential treatment.

Gartner Research VP Michael Silver believes that the overall issue persists for all Listed Providers, including Amazon, and that “customers should still be lobbying Microsoft to eliminate the Listed Provider limitations” altogether.

Microsoft has proven very popular in European discussion circles, and all for the wrong reasons. Recently, it faced a months-long battle relating to its unfair licensing terms that make changing providers or employing a multicloud environment both challenging and costly. Besides promising to be working with the relevant bodies, Redmond has not shared any details on that.

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