71.2% of UK Cloud Providers Urge Regulation as CMA Weighs Microsoft SMS
71.2% of UK cloud providers rate regulatory intervention as urgent or extremely urgent with the Competition and Markets Authority set to review Microsoft’s Strategic Market Status. 82% of providers report barriers such as restrictive licensing, bundling and interoperability limits that entrench vendor lock-in and raise switching costs.
1. Survey Findings
71.2% of UK cloud providers consider regulatory intervention urgent or extremely urgent, and 82% report barriers such as restrictive licensing and bundling. Nearly 65% of cloud customers call swift action very important, while 68% warn delayed steps will raise costs.
2. CMA SMS Review
The Competition and Markets Authority plans to decide whether Microsoft and AWS should receive Strategic Market Status, a designation that could impose obligations to limit anti-competitive practices. Its July 2025 cloud investigation identified restrictive software licensing and technical switching barriers as key issues.
3. Barriers to Competition
Providers highlight restrictive software licensing, bundling, committed-spend discounts and limited interoperability as major obstacles that entrench vendor lock-in and raise switching costs, hindering multi-cloud adoption.
4. Regulatory Implications
Industry voices caution that postponing regulation could accelerate market concentration, making any future interventions less effective and costlier for vendors and customers alike.