Short answer: don't wait for the regulators. Today, the savings on Microsoft licences come from your own licence hygiene. The UK competition authority has just put into words what many business owners feel: Microsoft's business software is hard to leave. That will not make your bill smaller before 2027. Until then, the money leaks out in places you can close yourself.
What happened?
On 16 October, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) proposed designating Microsoft with "strategic market status" (SMS) in business software. The proposal covers Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, Teams and Copilot, along with Microsoft's security, server and operating system products. The CMA looked at five areas: PC operating systems, productivity suites, security software, server operating systems and database management systems. Its provisional finding is that Microsoft holds a strong position in all five, and that barriers to switching keep it that way.
According to The Register's summary, the regulator also noted that many customers see Microsoft's products as one integrated stack. Bundle discounts make an alternative more expensive, because its licence comes on top of what you already pay. Among its next areas of work, the CMA lists whether customers can freely choose AI tools alongside Copilot, and how Microsoft's licensing affects which cloud you can run your software on.
Two details matter. The CMA stresses that the designation does not imply wrongdoing. And nothing is final yet: The Register reports that the consultation runs until 13 November, and the final decision is due in February 2027. Any concrete intervention can only follow after that.
The same week, a second UK case moved forward. The Register reports that the Court of Appeal refused Microsoft permission to take its dispute over second-hand licence resale to the Supreme Court. In that case, the reseller ValueLicensing is claiming £270 million. So the market for pre-owned licences is in motion too.
What does this mean for an SMB?
In the short term, nothing changes on your invoice. The CMA's decision covers the UK market. Even if remedies follow there, and even if regulators elsewhere take similar steps, it may be years before they show up in a typical SMB's licence agreement. If you wait for that, you keep paying today's rate every month in the meantime.
The CMA's finding does carry one message you can use right away: switching cost is a real cost. If everything runs on Microsoft, you pay not only for the licences but for the lock-in as well. That is fine as long as it is a conscious choice. In many SMBs, though, it was never a decision. It just happened.
A typical situation: nobody has reviewed the licence list in years. Common mistakes include former employees whose accounts still hold a licence, everyone on the same premium plan regardless of need, and a separately purchased security or video-calling tool that the existing bundle already includes. None of this needs a regulator. It is your call.
Second-hand licences can be tempting, but there is a trap here too. According to Microsoft, Office 2016 and Office 2019 reached end of support on 14 October 2025, which means no more security updates. A cheap licence for an old version buys you a security risk. Before you buy any pre-owned licence, check the version and its support date, and ask a legal expert about the terms in your country.
What should you do now?
- Build a licence inventory. Who uses which plan, and who has not signed in for months? Free up the licences of people who have left.
- Right-size your users. Not everyone needs the most expensive plan. Someone who only uses email and edits documents may be fine on a lower tier.
- Look for tools you pay for twice. List what your existing bundle already provides (security, video calls, storage) next to what you buy separately. One of them can probably go.
- Price in the exit. Before your next renewal, ask: if you switched tomorrow, what would it cost, and where does your data live? The same applies to AI: if you want to use Claude or ChatGPT alongside Copilot, check how that fits with your existing licences and your data protection rules.
- Follow the CMA decision, but don't plan around it. The Register reports that the US FTC and the European Commission are also considering similar steps. None of that lowers today's bill.
We have covered this ground before. Our one-page IT strategy article shows where IT money most often leaks away, and our Microsoft 365 vs Google Workspace comparison explains when each suite makes sense.
If you would like an independent review of your licences and bundles, that is what our IT consulting is for.
