Microsoft's business software ecosystem: Proposed decision

Overview

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is consulting on its proposed decision to designate Microsoft as having strategic market status (SMS) in respect of its business software ecosystem.

About this consultation

On 14 May 2026, the CMA launched an investigation into whether Microsoft should be designated as having SMS in respect of its business software ecosystem. 

The CMA has now published its proposed decision, which sets out the CMA's provisional assessment that Microsoft meets the statutory conditions for SMS designation in respect of its business software ecosystem. 

How to respond

We invite comments on the proposed decision and accompanying documents, which can be found at the bottom of this page, by 13 November 2026, before the CMA will take a final decision by 13 February 2027. 

Responses should be submitted through the form below, or by email to business.software.sms@cma.gov.uk.

Where responses include confidential information, this should be clearly marked. A non-confidential version should also be provided that can be published on the CMA’s website. 

Any non-disclosure agreement a party may have in place with Microsoft should not prevent them from responding to this consultation. Microsoft has confirmed that it will not use any confidentiality provision with a party to prevent them from responding to this consultation.

To the extent that a response contains information that is confidential to Microsoft or a third party, the responding party should inform the CMA of the confidential nature of the information, and provide a non-confidential version that can be published on the CMA’s website.