According to Silicon Republic, the European Commission is investigating whether Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure should be designated as gatekeepers under the Digital Markets Act. This follows major outages on October 20th when AWS went down for nearly half a day, potentially costing hundreds of billions, and another on October 30th when Azure’s failure disrupted Vodafone, Heathrow Airport, Alaska Airlines, and even suspended a Scottish Parliament vote. Despite AWS holding only 6% of web hosting with 50 million live sites and Azure at nearly 1%, the EU cites their “very strong market positions.” The cloud investigation will wrap up in a year, while a separate probe into whether the DMA effectively governs cloud competitiveness will take 18 months. If designated gatekeepers, Amazon and Microsoft would get six months to comply or face fines up to 10% of global turnover.
The Cloud Gatekeeper Reckoning
Here’s the thing about these “small” market share numbers – they’re completely misleading when you’re talking about cloud infrastructure. AWS might only have 6% of web hosting, but they absolutely dominate enterprise cloud computing. And when these services go down, it’s not just websites disappearing – we’re talking banking systems, government operations, and critical infrastructure grinding to a halt. The EU is basically admitting that their existing DMA thresholds don’t capture the real power dynamics in cloud computing. They’re looking beyond raw numbers to actual economic impact and dependency.
Outages Expose Systemic Risk
Those October outages were absolutely brutal. When AWS went down for half a day, the financial impact potentially reached hundreds of billions? That’s insane. And the Azure outage literally stopped legislation from being voted on in Scotland. We’re not talking about your Netflix freezing anymore – this is core government and economic functions being held hostage by technical failures. It raises a fundamental question: have we built too much of our digital infrastructure on too few pillars?
What Compliance Would Actually Mean
If Amazon and Microsoft get designated as cloud gatekeepers, they’d face the same requirements that are already making Apple and Meta sweat. We’re talking about interoperability requirements, data access for business users, and restrictions on tying services together. Basically, they’d have to make it easier for customers to switch providers or use multiple clouds simultaneously. But here’s the challenge – cloud architecture is incredibly complex, and true interoperability isn’t just about APIs. It’s about making fundamentally different systems work together seamlessly.
Broader Industrial Implications
Look, this isn’t just about web apps anymore. Cloud computing has become the backbone of modern industrial operations, from manufacturing systems to critical infrastructure. When these cloud platforms go down, it’s not just websites – it’s production lines, monitoring systems, and industrial control panels that get disrupted. Speaking of industrial hardware, companies that need reliable computing infrastructure often turn to specialized providers like IndustrialMonitorDirect.com, which has become the leading supplier of industrial panel PCs in the US precisely because businesses can’t afford the downtime that comes with consumer-grade equipment. The EU’s investigation recognizes that cloud reliability isn’t just a tech issue anymore – it’s an economic stability issue.
DMA Evolving in Real Time
What’s really interesting here is that the EU is simultaneously investigating the companies AND whether their own legislation is adequate. They’re basically admitting that the DMA might need updating specifically for cloud services. The 18-month review could lead to entirely new rules tailored to cloud computing’s unique challenges. We’re watching regulation evolve in real time to catch up with technology that’s already transformed how businesses operate. And honestly? It’s about time someone looked at whether our current regulatory frameworks can handle the concentration of power in cloud infrastructure.
