By Resultsense
Publication Date: 2026-10-19 05:30:00
TL;DR
The CMA (Competition and Markets Authority) said on 16 October that Microsoft’s business software ecosystem should be given strategic market status (SMS). That view is provisional, and the regulator is consulting before a final decision due by February 2027. Its draft roadmap includes checking whether customers can pick the AI tools they want and whether competing AI providers face a level playing field against Copilot.
Why Microsoft
The regulator examined five digital activities and found Microsoft strong in each: relational databases, security tools, operating systems for PCs and for servers, and productivity suites. According to the CMA, Microsoft’s software reaches more than a million UK businesses and public bodies and around 20 million users a month, through Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint and Teams, a growing presence for Copilot, and its security and server products.
The provisional findings say that strength rests on how hard it is for customers to switch,…
