Google Cloud attempted to entice European cloud providers with substantial financial incentives, as revealed in confidential documents obtained by The Register. The documents showed that the former Vice President of Google Cloud Platform, Amit AMIT, presented the company’s proposals to individual members of Cloud Infrastructure Service in Europe (Cis), the board of directors, and the entire organization. The package offered an innovation fund of 4 million euros, with each participant receiving 100,000 euros for immediate project financing and licensing fees to support open cloud ecosystems.
Cispe currently consists of 36 members, including Oxya, Leaseweb, UpCloud, and the sole non-European participant, AWS. The number of participants has increased from 27 to 36 since July.
In addition to the innovation fund, Google proposed an extra 10 million euros for “participation and membership resources.” They also offered 100 million euros in Google Distributed Cloud software loans for five years, providing free software for cloud deployment based on Kubernetes.
The presentation emphasized that the innovation fund and software platform would be available to current Cispe members, with the condition that the organization upholds the principles of fair software licensing. This proposal was reportedly targeting a complaint against Microsoft, filed in November 2022, regarding their licensing policies that significantly increase the cost of using Microsoft software in third-party cloud infrastructure. Google, however, denies any connection between their offer and the complaint.
Despite Google’s proposals, Cispe opted to settle the dispute with Microsoft. The agreement involves a payment ranging from 10 to 30 million euros. Microsoft is also developing an enhanced version of Azure Local (previously known as Stack HCI) – a platform for establishing private clouds within organizations’ infrastructure. The rollout of a multi-user environment is expected by April, currently undergoing testing by Cispe participants.
According to a source within Cispe, there was a prolonged battle with Microsoft, and members of Cispe were eager to resolve the licensing issue rather than continue the conflict that Google had proposed. Following the rejection, Cispe aligned with the Open Cloud Coalition (OCC), primarily composed of small British and one Spanish cloud providers. The OCC could serve for advocacy in the antitrust bodies of the UK and the European Commission.