Open Cloud Coalition, backed by Google, launches lobbying campaign to influence European legislators
The Open Cloud Coalition’s (OCC) mission is to improve competition, transparency and resilience in the cloud computing industry. It has 10 members, including Google. Other cloud providers include Centerprise International and DTP Group. The Open Cloud Coalition (OCC) was launched today, just hours after Microsoft’s deputy general counsel Rima Aliya preempted it by publishing a blogpost accusing Google to be conducting a “shadow” campaign to influence cloud regulations in Europe. Alaily called the new organization an “astroturf group organized by Google,” adding that Google had “gone through great lengths to obfuscate its involvement, funding, and control” by using smaller European cloud providers as the face of the coalition.
The OCC is broadly comparable to another industry trade organization called the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), which launched in 2017 and includes Amazon’s AWS as its flagship member alongside several dozen smaller players. The OCC was created in response to a settlement Microsoft made with CISPE (excluding AWS) that allowed them to drop their antitrust complaint over a licensing change Microsoft made in 2019 which made it costlier to run Microsoft enterprise software on competing cloud services.
That July settlement, which included a reported $22 million payment plus promises to make it easier for smaller cloud providers to run Microsoft software on their own infrastructure, spurred Google to launch its very own complaint with the European Commission (EC), alleging that Microsoft uses anti-competitive licensing practices to force companies into staying on its Azure cloud infrastructure.
The OCC’s arrival comes at an opportune time with a new European Commission is set to take office, while the U.K. is also currently carrying out an in-depth cloud market investigation looking at vendor lock-in practices. AWS and Microsoft will be the focus of this investigation, as they are the two market leaders. The results are expected in 2025.
“The OCC is determined to reverse this trend by promoting a more competitive and flexible market and driving the adoption of open standards,” Stewart said in a statement.
While Microsoft insists that Google is the main driving force of the OCC in terms of support, DGA Group, an “advisory firm” enlisted to drive recruitment for the Coalition, said it wasn’t disclosing individual members’ contributions. The Coalition added that it would not disclose the contributions of individual members.
