Microsoft plans to globally separate Teams from its Office suite

According to Reuters on Monday, Microsoft intends to start selling its chat and video programme Teams separately from its Office suite globally.

This move follows a similar separation that the internet giant started in Europe six months ago in response to regulatory criticism on its product bundling policies.

Following a 2020 complaint by Slack, which is currently owned by Salesforce, alleging that Windows maker's bundling of Teams with Office provided it an unfair market advantage, the European Commission has been looking into Microsoft's integration of Office and Teams.

Teams, which replaced Skype for Business and became a free upgrade to Office 365 in 2017, gained enormous traction during the epidemic, particularly because of its video conferencing features.

In August of the previous year, Microsoft began selling Teams and Office as distinct products in the EU and Switzerland in response to these worries.

The business announced in a blog post the availability of new Microsoft 365 and Office 365 commercial suites that omit Teams for locations outside of the EEA and Switzerland, as well as a stand-alone Teams alternative for Enterprise clients, as part of its worldwide expansion of this approach.

According to the source, starting on April 1st, Microsoft is providing consumers with the option to choose the newly structured packages or to continue using their current licences.

Office without Teams will cost between $7.75 and $54.75, while Teams will cost $5.25 as a stand-alone solution for new commercial clients. Prices will vary depending on the nation and currency, and the precise exchange rates for the earlier packaged deals were not made public.

According to the article, Microsoft may still be charged with EU antitrust in the near future despite these adjustments since competitors are still challenging the cost and compatibility of their services with Office Web Applications.

If found in breach once again, Microsoft may be subject to harsh fines of up to 10% of its annual global revenue, after €2.2 billion in fines from the EU for similar activities.

(Sources: investing.com, reuters.com)