Google backs new Open Cloud Coalition to lobby across Europe

Date:
Tue, 29 Oct 2024 10:01:10 +0000

Description:
Google is one of the 10 members that formed the Open Cloud Coalition, and Microsoft thinks thats suspicious.

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A group of the best cloud computing providers, including Google, have come together to form the Open Cloud Coalition with the mission of fostering a competitive, transparent and resilient cloud market across the UK and
European Union.

The Coalition, made up from day one of 10 members, including Centerprise International, Civo, Gigas and Google Cloud, plans to champion openness, interoperability, and fair competition.

According to OCC spokesperson Nicky Stewart, who is also a Civo director, the Coalition aims to counter the restrictive agreements that make it challenging for customers to adopt multicloud and hybrid setups. He added: The OCC is determined to reverse this trend by promoting a more competitive and flexible market and driving the adoption of open standards. Open Cloud Coalition to tackle Europes challenging cloud landscape

The OCCs launch comes as cloud providers across Europe, and other regions globally, come under more scrutiny from antitrust regulators like the UKs Competition and Markets Authority and the European Commission over anti-competitive practices.

It follows Microsofts recent settlement with the Cloud Infrastructure
Services Providers in Europe (CISPE), which included licensing concessions
and a $22 million payment to address complaints.

Speaking about the formation of the group, Stewart added: A dedicated
platform campaigning on these issues is needed to advocate for fairness, openness, and interoperability, ensuring that regulations and industry practices support these principles.

In response to the OCCs launch, Microsoft CVP and Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaily wrote : This week an astroturf group organized by Google is launching. It is designed to discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public.

Alaily added: Google has gone through great lengths to obfuscate its involvement, funding, and control, most notably by recruiting a handful of European cloud providers, to serve as the public face of the new
organization.

Google Cloud told TechRadar Pro : Weve been very public about our concerns with Microsofts cloud licensing. We and many others believe that Microsofts anticompetitive practices lock-in customers and create negative downstream effects that impact cybersecurity, innovation, and choice. You can read more in our many blog posts on these issues. More from TechRadar Pro These are the best cloud hosting providers Google Cloud: When it comes to business AI, no-one can deliver value like us Keep your data online with the best cloud storage and best cloud backup tools



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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/google-backs-new-open-cloud-coalition-to-lobby-a cross-europe


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