Microsoft plans to introduce new versions of its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 subscription services that exclude Teams and unbundle the suite following scrutiny from European Union regulators and complaints from competing Slack.
The move follows Microsoft's agreement last year to sell its Office 365 suite in the EU and Switzerland without offering Microsoft Teams. The company introduced Teams as a free service in its Office 365 suite in 2017.
Many companies claim that Microsoft enjoys an unfair advantage by combining the two products. Salesforce-owned Slack called the move “illegal,” claiming Microsoft forced customers to install Teams through its market-dominant productivity suite and hid the real cost of its chat and video services. .
Microsoft said in a statement to Reuters that the integration “also addresses feedback from the European Commission by giving multinational companies more flexibility when they want to standardize their purchases across regions.” .
Reuters reported that Microsoft will announce the new Office 365 lineup on Monday. Microsoft had not implemented this change at the time of publication.
TechCrunch has reached out to Microsoft for more information. We will update the story as we learn more.