- Slack filed a complaint questioning Microsoft’s Teams App bundling up with Office.
- EU regulators are currently investigating the complaint to find out whether the said activity puts Microsoft at a greater market position with unfair advantages.
- Microsoft has been updating the Teams App to enhance functionality.
To catch you up on what has been happening, Slack recently filed a complaint against Microsoft’s Teams App over its integration with Office. According to Slack, the move was illegal and well calculated to disadvantage products from their rivals.
Slack is one of Microsoft Teams rivals alongside Zoom. The move puts Microsoft at an unfair advantage, and now Slack wants Eu to investigate.
Investigations underway
Microsoft has been working hard to integrate Teams to make it fit seamlessly into users’ lives. Since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, remote work has taken over, and the need to make meetings more collaborative and engaging arose. Microsoft introduced a new Word cloud feature to the Teams up to allow for polls.
According to the complaints, Microsoft is using its position in the market to make deep roots in PCs and the users’ lifestyle. This, in turn, does not give other companies a fair shot.
In the complaint, Slack detailed that the Teams App already comes pre-installed while the rest have to be installed. Microsoft had also not provided any key information that would be beneficial for rivals to also work with Office. They were completely left out.
Required evidence
The EU Commission has asked the rivals whether the bundled products allow companies to gain access to data that may favour their market power. The commission has also made an inquiry into whether there exist barriers to market entry or expansion in the market.
Rivals are also to produce a list of customers who have made the switch and any loss in revenue recorded. The aim is to assess the impact the integration has on their products and investments.
If the Twitter reactions are anything to go by, Slack may be on the receiving end.
It is not yet clear what will transpire once the investigation comes to an end. If Microsoft is found to be creating unfair competition, the verdict and consequences are something we will have to wait and see.
DO you feel Microsoft has the upper hand by integrating its Teams App with Office? Let us know in the comment section below.
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