The United Kingdom Competition and Markets Authority's (CMA) independent inquiry group on Tuesday released preliminary findings after an in-depth analysis of the cloud services market, suggesting that the £9 billion market users currently have a fairly limited choice of cloud service providers.
Namely, the report shows that Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS) hold up to 40% of the market share each, while Google has a much smaller participation in the market. Additionally, the findings suggest that Microsoft uses its dominance in software to hinder AWS and Google from competing effectively for cloud customers, which makes it difficult for users to switch providers or use different clouds.
"The inquiry group provisionally recommends that the CMA use its powers under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024 (DMCCA) to consider whether to designate the two largest providers, AWS and Microsoft, with strategic market status (SMS) in relation to their respective digital activities in cloud services," the document read.
