In October, Microsoft made the decision to unbundle Teams from its Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites for customers worldwide. This move comes after the company previously unbundled Teams in the European Union and Switzerland to avoid potential fines.
According to a report by Reuters, Microsoft is expanding this offering, allowing customers around the world to purchase Microsoft Teams separately from Microsoft 365 and Office 365.
A spokesperson for Microsoft stated that this decision was made in response to feedback from the European Commission and aims to provide multinational companies with more flexibility when it comes to standardizing their purchasing across different geographies.
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This move also caters to the needs of current users who may prefer to use a different communication service, such as Zoom or Google Meet, while still utilizing the Office suite.
Current users now have the option to choose whether to keep their current deal, which includes Teams as part of the bundle or switch to one of the separate offerings.
This flexibility is particularly helpful for those who rely on the Office suite but prefer to use an alternative communication platform. By unbundling Teams, Microsoft is giving users the freedom to customize their software stack according to their specific requirements.
For commercial customers who are new to Microsoft’s offerings, they can now purchase Teams on its own for $5.25. On the other hand, Office without Teams is available at prices ranging from $7.75 to $54.75, depending on the specific package and features included.
The journey to unbundling Teams and Office started in 2020 when Slack filed an antitrust complaint with the European Union.
At that time, Slack, now owned by Salesforce, alleged that it was illegal for Microsoft to include Teams in the Office suite and that Microsoft was preventing customers from removing the chat platform.
The European Commission subsequently launched an investigation into this matter. In April 2023, Microsoft announced its decision to separate Teams from Microsoft 365 and Office 365, which went into effect last fall.
However, the company still faces the risk of hefty fines if it is found to have violated antitrust laws.
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