Microsoft has finalized an agreement with the European Commission to address competition concerns regarding Teams. The changes are designed to enhance flexibility and give customers more options and commit the company to consumer choice and interoperability in a competitive landscape. The agreement involves changes to licensing and pricing for Microsoft 365, Office 365, and Microsoft Teams.
Microsoft is expanding interoperability and data portability resources. It will maintain the existing add-in model for third-party communication and collaboration providers and the AppSource marketplace will remain a distribution channel for these add-ins. The add-in model allows third-party solutions to integrate with Microsoft 365 and Teams in the same way as other software development companies that provide add-ins to Microsoft 365 and Teams.
In addition, Microsoft will continue to enable other solution providers to embed Office Web Applications within their own solutions through the Microsoft Document Collaboration Partner Program to better serve shared customers.
Microsoft said that the changes are explicitly aimed at enhancing flexibility, supporting open ecosystems, and providing customers with more options. The Redmond giant described partners as trusted advisors who deliver business outcomes and that the overall goal is to drive real impact for customers across their journey with their services and solutions.
Source: Microsoft