Microsoft joins European cloud collective following settlement

• Microsoft is now a member of the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe
• It will be a non-voting member with limited influence over decisions
• Microsoft wants to build a “constructive partnership” in Europe

After months of battling it out with cloud providers globally, and particularly in Europe, regarding its alleged anticompetitive business practices, Microsoft has now joined CISPE, the group that lodged the complaint in the first place.

Microsoft is now the 39th member to join the Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers of Europe (CISPE) group, following its recent settlement with the body.

However, it wasn’t welcomed by all board members, with main rival AWS speaking out against Microsoft’s inclusion.

Microsoft has joined CISPE as a non-voting member

Although Microsoft has now joined as a member of CISPE, it remains a non-voting member, which means that its influence on policy decisions will be limited.

“We are grateful to the CISPE membership for accepting our application as a non-voting adherent member and will continue to focus on building a constructive partnership that supports European cloud providers," Microsoft said in a statement to TechRadar Pro.

CISPE hasn’t released a formal announcement regarding Microsoft’s inclusion.

In the meantime, skepticism surrounding Microsoft’s status as a CISPE member has raised questions about the effects on the organization’s independence. It now has influence from AWS and Microsoft from within – two of the leading hyperscalers that dominate the market.

The third hyperscaler, Google, has previously been unsuccessful in its efforts to join CISPE. Instead, it helped form and joined the Open Cloud Coalition, however, Microsoft Deputy General Counsel Rima Alaily slated Google for organizing an “astroturf group” to “discredit Microsoft with competition authorities, and policymakers and mislead the public.”

CISPE guided us to its LinkedIn post confirming the addition of Microsoft as an Associate and Adherent Member.

The body added: "They are therefore not able to influence CISPE policy or direction. Governance changes agreed at the last General Assembly further strengthen CISPE’s European leadership, mandating that at least 75% of the Board and membership must consist of European businesses."

CISPE Secretary General, Francisco Mignorance, commented: "We welcome both these new important members. CISPE continues to attract new members and is clearly regarded as the leading association campaigning for the interests of cloud infrastructure providers and their customers."

You might also like

• A new European regulator will keep an eye on cloud licensing issues
• We’ve listed the best cloud storage and best cloud backup tools
• Check out our roundup of the best cloud computing services