European Cloud Competition Observatory created to keep an eye on software licensing

Exclusive The Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) consortium has launched the European Cloud Competition Observatory (ECCO) to keep an eye on software licensing practices in the sector.

ECCO has come about as a result of CISPE's agreement with Microsoft in July to settle a competition complaint filed with the European Commission. Microsoft agreed to pay a relatively small sum to the trade group – we've seen figures ranging from $10 million to $30 million – and produce an enhanced version of its Azure Stack HCI product for European cloud providers that match the company's own cloud offerings.

While the intent of ECCO is to identify unfair software licensing practices in Europe, its initial task will be to ensure Microsoft makes good on its promises. According to CISPE, its members are trialing Microsoft's changes ahead of a technical summit planned for December in Redmond, Washington. A progress ...