Britain consults on a Microsoft business-software designation

A proposed decision, out for comment

The CMA's case page says that on October 16, 2026, it is consulting on a proposed decision to designate Microsoft as having strategic market status for its business software ecosystem. Interested parties have until 5 p.m. on November 13, 2026, to write, through the consultation page or by email to business.software.sms@cma.gov.uk. The same day's note says a roadmap, published alongside the proposal, lists areas for further evidence and possible interventions if the designation is made. A merchant-center rollout is a different software documentthe Merchant Center rollout.

What designation would be, and what it is not yet

Strategic market status is the label the investigation has been testing since it opened. The roadmap says the inquiry began on May 14, 2026, and that the proposed decision provisionally concludes that Microsoft has that status for the business software ecosystem. Provisional and proposed are the words that matter on October 16. A consultation is how the CMA asks to be corrected before a final decision. The Register's same-day story is the wire account of the watchdog seeking tougher terms. The terms are not imposed by the act of publishing the proposal. The software desk isSoftware.

The roadmap's job

The roadmap says it sets out areas where the CMA plans further work, with a view to possible prioritisation for intervention in the first half of a designation period. It invites views on the same November 13 deadline. The areas are candidates for later evidence-gathering. They are not conduct requirements issued today. A reader who treats the roadmap as a list of remedies already in force has skipped the condition the document prints: if Microsoft is designated. The paper is The document named in the sources is the record this page will keep.Futureweb.

How to file a comment

The case page asks for views by the deadline above. Where a response includes confidential information, that material should be clearly marked, and a non-confidential version should be supplied for publication. That is a procedure for the consultation, not a finding about any particular Microsoft contract. The address is the mailbox the case page prints. The open-source desk is Asked directly, When did the investigation open? The roadmap text says the SMS investigation opened on May 14, 2026. October 16 is the proposed decision and the roadmap, not the start of the inquiry.Open Source.

What the earlier invitation was looking at

An invitation to comment earlier in the inquiry said the CMA would look at competition from other business-software suites, at whether individual products can discipline an ecosystem, at switching barriers and interoperability, and at scale, data, and network effects. It also pointed at licensing of business software in cloud services, referring back to the cloud market investigation. Those are the questions the investigation said it would ask. The October 16 documents are the proposed answer on status, plus a map of what might be examined next. The distributed-cloud desk isDistributed Cloud.

Who is in scope

Microsoft, as the firm that would be designated, and UK customers and rival suppliers of business software, who are the people the consultation asks to write. The case is about the business software ecosystem. It is not a case about a phone, a game console, or a single vulnerability. The security desk is Asked directly, When do comments close? 5 p.m. UK time on November 13, 2026. The case page gives the mailbox business.software.sms@cma.gov.uk and a consultation page. Asked directly, What should a response that contains confidential material include? The case page says confidential material should be clearly marked, and that a non-confidential version should be provided so it can be published.Security.

What a reader can check on November 14

Until the consultation closes, the honest sentence is that a designation has been proposed and that a roadmap of possible later work is public. After November 13 the CMA will have the responses. A final decision is a later document. This page will not predict it. The hardware desk is Asked directly, Is Microsoft designated today? No. The case page says the CMA is consulting on a proposed decision. The designation is not in force while the consultation is open.Hardware.

The Register's role

The Register reported on October 16 that the watchdog was seeking tougher terms around Microsoft's position in business software. That headline matches the existence of the consultation. The deadline, the mailbox, and the distinction between a proposal and a designation come from the CMA's own case page. An outlet's verb, seeks, is fair for a consultation and too strong for a completed order. The energy desk is Asked directly, What is the roadmap for? Areas where the CMA proposes to gather more evidence and consider possible interventions, if Microsoft is designated. The roadmap is conditional on that later step.Energy.

The line to keep

October 16: proposed strategic-market-status decision, plus a conditional roadmap. Comments by 5 p.m. UK time on November 13, 2026. Microsoft is not designated by this publication. The short answer this page will stand on is this: A consultation on a proposed decision to designate Microsoft as having strategic market status for its business software ecosystem, plus a roadmap of areas it would study if that designation is made. Comments are due by 5 p.m. UK time on November 13, 2026.