Microsoft Teams Has Become So Widely-Used It Might Get Into Legal Trouble
Image via Microsoft
With the rise of remote work and online education, it’s no wonder that Microsoft Teams has seen exponential growth over the last 18 months. In the latest Windows 11, the app finds a central spot on the interface’s taskbar.
However, it’s now looking like it’s grown almost too popular for its own good.
Rival platform Slack has raised complaints that have prompted an investigation from antitrust regulators in the European Union. It claims that Teams is so firmly integrated with the rest of the Microsoft Teams apps that it enjoys an unfair advantage, Reuters reports.
Furthermore, its uninstallation process is lengthy and complex. And, lastly, Slack notes that Microsoft did not want to cooperate with others in providing information that would allow other products to work within the Teams and Office ecosystem.
This has led the regulators to send out a questionnaire to other video conferencing and co-working platforms, focusing on the period between 2016 to present day. It goes without saying: you might have probably guessed that Zoom, Cisco WebEx, and Google Meet are being included alongside Slack.
These clients will be asked for a list of customers who have switched to Teams, how much the pandemic has boosted demand for remote working tools, and any effects on product quality, price, and research and development.
Revenue losses seen since the launch of Teams in 2017 will also be taken into account.
Bundling Teams with Office is “illegal,” Slack says, and it wants the EU to ensure that the two get separated. This will help to level the playing field and give other competitors a fairer chance.
[via TechRadar, image via Microsoft]
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