The Open Cloud Coalition makes debut to bolster competition in public cloud

A coalition championing openness and interoperability within the cloud market has launched to support competition authorities and watchdogs that are in the throes of investigating claims of anti-competitive behaviour involving hyperscalers.

The newly formed Open Cloud Coalition (OCC) launched on 29 October 2024 with 10 founding members, which are collectively calling for more openness, interoperability and competitiveness across the whole cloud market.

Its members have also committed to releasing research and contributing to the consultations of competition watchdogs across Europe that are in the thick of investigating the market on anti-trust grounds.

Google Cloud, which recently filed a complaint with the European Commission regarding concerns it has about Microsoft’s anti-competitive cloud licensing practices, is one of the OCC founding members.

Other members include global players, such as Centerprise International, Civo and Gigas, as well as smaller, domestic suppliers, including ControlPlane, DTP Group, Prolinx, Pulsant, Clairo and Room 101.

Speaking to Computer Weekly, OCC spokesperson and former ICT chief of the UK Cabinet Office, Nicky Stewart, said the coalition is looking to add more members to its roster and is having conversations already with organisations of all sizes that are looking to join its ranks.

“We [have a] whole range of companies involved already, from large players like Google, all the way down to pretty small SMEs, because we are really keen for this to represent a broad spectrum of suppliers,” she said.

The coalition’s formation comes at a time when the actions of the global cloud market’s biggest players are coming in for close scrutiny, with competition authorities in various international markets investigating antitrust allegations against the likes of Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft.  

The UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is among them, having launched an investigation into the inner workings of the UK cloud infrastructure services market in October 2023 – at the behest of communications regulator Ofcom.

This was after an earlier examination of the market by Ofcom uncovered evidence of anti-competitive behaviour by Microsoft and AWS, prompting the organisation to refer the sector for further investigation by the CMA. There are also similar investigations afoot in Spain and Denmark.

As cloud infrastructure becomes indispensable, many businesses find themselves trapped in restrictive agreements, facing high costs and barriers when trying to switch or adopt multicloud strategies. The OCC is determined to reverse this trend

Regulatory actions such as these are shedding some much-needed light on how the hyperscalers run their operations, continued Stewart, and empowering customers that might be feeling a degree of “discomfort” as a result to speak out.

“The Ofcom report and the CMA investigation, certainly in the UK, has focused the minds of people, and many companies that have commercial relationships with hyperscale cloud providers have felt discomfort at how they have been treated by them,” she continued.

“In the UK, people are feeling more empowered and there has been a real kind of convergence of opportunities as a result, which is why we’ve formed the coalition now. It’s time to throw another voice in the pot.”

Stewart said one of the coalition’s core aims is to make it easier for business cloud users to switch providers or add new ones to their roll call of suppliers without running into interoperability or cost barriers or penalties for doing so.

“As cloud infrastructure becomes indispensable, many businesses find themselves trapped in restrictive agreements, facing high costs and barriers when trying to switch or adopt multicloud strategies. The OCC is determined to reverse this trend by promoting a more competitive and flexible market, and driving the adoption of open standards,” she added.

“The cloud market lacks the level playing field required to drive innovation, competition and value for customers. A dedicated platform campaigning on these issues is needed to advocate for fairness, openness and interoperability, ensuring that regulations and industry practices support these principles.”

Diego Cabezudo, CEO of Spanish cloud provider Gigas, said all businesses should have the freedom to choose and switch between the providers whose offerings are the best fit for them and their use cases.

“We are excited to join the Open Cloud Coalition to advocate for a fair and open cloud market that provides customers with choice and quality of services,” Cabezudo added.

Ashley Ward, CTO of coalition member ControlPlane, said the coalition “represents a transformative force in the cloud industry” that will promote openness, resilience and innovation.

“By joining this initiative, we’re advocating for a cloud environment where businesses can operate freely, without the constraints of vendor lock-in,” said Ward.

“Together, we’re working to shape the future of cloud services with a commitment to fairness, interoperability and fostering a competitive marketplace.”