CMA proposes special status for Microsoft in UK business software

CMA proposes special status for Microsoft in UK business software

16 October 2026: The Competition and Markets Authority has provisionally found that Microsoft holds strategic market status in business software, the designation that lets the UK regulator impose conduct rules under the Digital Markets, Competition and Consumers Act 2024. Customers, rivals and partners can comment until 5pm on 13 November, and the CMA will take its final decision by 13 February 2027.

What the CMA found

The investigation opened on 14 May 2026 and covered five areas of digital activity: PC operating systems, productivity suites, security software, server operating systems and relational databases. The CMA says Microsoft has a strong position in each of them. Its provisional reasoning is that the strength comes from the barriers customers face when switching, and that commercial practices and integration advantages push customers towards Microsoft products in ways other developers cannot easily match.

The regulator puts the reach of the products at more than a million UK businesses and public bodies, with around 20 million monthly users of Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams, Copilot and the security, server and operating system products. Designation does not assume wrongdoing; it is the step that allows targeted interventions later.

Four areas on the roadmap

Alongside the proposed decision the CMA published an indicative roadmap of where it would gather evidence first if Microsoft is designated:

• whether customers can pick the AI tools they want, and whether rival AI providers can compete with Copilot on equal terms
• whether the way Microsoft bundles and integrates its security products limits choice
• whether customers have effective choice over which cloud runs their Microsoft licences, and how licensing practices affect that choice
• bundling more generally, and how easily other developers can integrate with the Microsoft ecosystem

"Organisations should be able to choose the products that work best for them, switch provider when they want to and combine services from different suppliers," said Sarah Cardell, the CMA's chief executive.

How to respond

Responses go through the CMA consultation portal or by email to business.software.sms@cma.gov.uk. Confidential material must be marked and a non-confidential version supplied for publication. The CMA says a non-disclosure agreement with Microsoft should not stop anyone responding, and that Microsoft has confirmed it will not use confidentiality clauses to prevent responses. Separate views on the roadmap are invited by the same date.

Cloud update and our catalogue

The same release reports on the CMA's work with Microsoft and AWS in cloud outside a formal designation: both have removed data transfer fees for customers changing provider, reduced them for multi-cloud use, connected their data centres with rivals starting with Google, and opened a mechanism for interoperability requests. The CMA has agreed with both to work next on identity and access management across clouds and on portable architectures, keeps a full cloud investigation under review, and will publish a further update in spring 2027.

Our productivity software category lists 12 products and our spreadsheet software category 20, among them Microsoft 365.

Related on TrustList:

• Rutba Office: a free desktop office suite that opens Outlook archives and leaves your files alone
• Microsoft changes how Copilot is priced: usage limits on the per-user licence, and Copilot Credits for agent work
• Vendors gave a median 48 days' warning before changing what customers use

Sources

• CMA: CMA takes first steps to ensure choice in business software, 16 October 2026
• CMA: Proposed decision, SMS investigation into Microsoft's business software ecosystem (consultation page), 16 October 2026
• CMA case page: Microsoft's business software ecosystem, 16 October 2026