Microsoft Proposes Unbundling Teams from Office 365 to Address EU Antitrust Concerns

Microsoft has proposed to unbundle its Teams communication app from its Office 365 and Microsoft 365 software suites in response to European Union antitrust concerns. The company plans to offer versions of these suites without Teams at a lower price and allow customers to switch to these versions even under existing contracts. Additionally, Microsoft commits to enhancing interoperability for Teams competitors with other Microsoft products and enabling data migration from Teams to rival platforms. This move follows a 2020 legal complaint from Slack, now owned by Salesforce, which accused Microsoft of abusing its market power by bundling Teams with its productivity tools. The European Commission is reviewing Microsoft's offer, which includes assurances on pricing and interoperability for several years, aiming to foster competition in the cloud productivity and workplace communication markets. Salesforce has expressed the need for binding and effective remedies to address Microsoft's anti-competitive conduct.