Focus on market dominance and security practices
The investigation focuses on Microsoft’s bundling of office productivity and security software with its cloud services, a practice that critics say puts competitors at a disadvantage in the authentication and cybersecurity markets. The FTC is particularly looking at Microsoft Entra ID, its user authentication service, amid complaints that licensing terms and integration with its cloud offerings hinder competing companies.
Microsoft’s role as a major government contractor and recent cybersecurity incidents involving its products have added urgency to the investigation. The company provides billions of dollars in services to U.S. agencies, including the Department of Defense, making its practices critical to national security.
In November 2023, the FTC concerns reported on the concentrated nature of the cloud market, warning that outages or performance issues could ripple through the economy. The authority then collected comments from civil society, industry players and academia to prepare its report. Based on comments received, the majority of concerns were related to competition and licensing practices.