A pivotal development in the UK cloud services market emerged this week as the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) released its provisional findings on Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS). In a new article from The Register, the CMA’s investigation highlights potentially anti-competitive behavior, drawing fresh attention to committed spend discounts, data egress fees, and restrictive licensing terms.

Reacting to the CMA’s announcement, Mark Boost, CEO of Civo, welcomed the provisional decision but emphasized that more work remains to be done, “It’s a cautious step in the right direction.”

Boost expressed hope that the CMA would leverage its evolving digital markets powers to scrutinize AWS and Microsoft further. In particular, he encouraged the watchdog to closely monitor any potentially unfair tactics. Even so, Boost highlighted a significant omission in the CMA’s interim findings:

“The elephant in the room has gone unaddressed: sky-high cloud credits are the most damaging method used by hyperscalers to lock in customers, but there is no mention of this in the provisional findings.”

Although positive about the progress so far, Boost cautioned that the work is “far from done,” pointing out that the CMA’s leadership has seen changes in recent weeks and that a final outcome is not expected until later this year. Nevertheless, he remains optimistic about the long-term impact of a more regulated cloud landscape:

“If the CMA stays its current course, providers that have continuously delivered the service that customers want will be well-positioned in this new regulatory landscape.”

💡 Want to hear more from Mark? Read his LinkedIn post for deeper insights on the CMA’s findings.

For further perspectives on the CMA’s provisional conclusions, see coverage in Tech Monitor and The Stack.