Microsoft to unbundle Teams from MS Office in European markets
By Oluwaseyi Lawal
Microsoft plans to unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites in European markets starting October. This decision aims to prevent additional antitrust examination, following the European Commission’s initiation of a formal investigation into Microsoft’s practice of including Teams with the Office productivity suite the previous month.
The VP of Microsoft european government affairs, Nanna-Louise Linde said, “Today we are announcing proactive changes that we hope will start to address these concerns in a meaningful way, even while the European Commission’s investigation continues and we cooperate with it. These changes will impact our Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites for business customers in the European Economic Area and Switzerland.”
The Unbundling means that customers within EU markets have the option to buy Microsoft 365 subscriptions without Teams, leading to a reduced monthly cost. Alternatively, they can opt for a separate Teams subscription at a price of €5 per month or €60 per year.
“We will instead simply sell these offerings without Teams at a lower price (€2 less per month or €24 per year),” said Linde.
The impact of the updated bundles and pricing will be limited to new subscribers. Existing enterprise users have the option to renew their current suites, adjust seat numbers, or switch to the new “without Teams” plans during renewal. This restructuring is primarily aimed at enterprises, while Microsoft intends to maintain the inclusion of Teams in its Microsoft 365 Business plans for small businesses. Microsoft is also introducing no Teams option, which will cost €1 less per month for the Business Basic plan and €2 less per month for Business Standard or Premium plans.
In addition to the unbundling of Teams, Microsoft plans to enhance its documentation on interoperability with rivals like Zoom and Slack, facilitating integration into Exchange, Outlook, and Teams. Furthermore, Microsoft will permit competitors to host Office web applications within their own applications, similar to how Microsoft offers this functionality within Teams.
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