Microsoft has decided to allow customers worldwide to purchase Office without including Teams, in response to concerns raised by EU antitrust authorities.

Microsoft has announced that it will discontinue the practice of selling its Teams collaboration software as part of its Office 365 suite worldwide, citing antitrust concerns. This decision expands upon a previous announcement made last year, which initially only applied to the European Union. The move follows complaints from rivals like Salesforce’s Slack in 2020, alleging that Microsoft’s bundling practices were anti-competitive.

The complaint from Slack prompted an ongoing antitrust investigation by the European Commission into Microsoft’s conduct.

By separating Teams from Office globally, Microsoft aims to address some of these concerns. This change allows customers worldwide to purchase Microsoft’s Office software without including Teams, while also offering Teams as a standalone product for business customers.

In a statement, a Microsoft spokesperson highlighted that this decision aims to provide clarity for customers and responds to feedback from the European Commission. By extending the unbundling of Teams from Microsoft 365 and Office 365 to a global scale, Microsoft seeks to offer multinational companies more flexibility in standardizing their purchasing practices across different regions.