It’s back! Starting November 1, 2025, Microsoft Teams is officially “back” in the Microsoft 365 and Office 365 Enterprise suites globally, but the choice to have it not sit with organisations and not Microsoft!
After years of regulatory issues, stalls, conceats and negotiations as well as regional licensing inconsistencies, Microsoft has reached a landmark agreement with the European Commission that reshapes how Microsoft Teams is packaged, priced, bundled and positioned across their modern work and productivity suites.
This agreement has spared Microsoft the potential antitrust fine and reputation damage.
The EU Commission decision makes Microsoft’s commitments (which were agreed) binding for seven years and for ten years regarding interoperability and data portability between platform.
Why This Matters
This isn’t just a licensing update it’s a fundamental “win” and global reset for Teams in Microsoft 365 and Office. After being forced to u bundle Teams from Office last year, causing cost increases, confusion and frustration for customers and partners, the change in decision actually follows a multi-year antitrust investigation originally triggered by Slack and Alfaview, who argued that bundling Teams with Microsoft 365 gave Microsoft an “unfair market advantage”. The European Commission had agreed, citing violations of Article 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union.
To resolve the issue, Microsoft agreed and committed to:
- Offering Microsoft 365 and Office 365 suites with or without Teams globally, not just in Europe.
- Introducing new pricing tiers that reflect organisations choice of whether to have teams or not have teams included, with clearer cost differentiation.
- Enhancing interoperability and data portability, which will allow customers more transparent ways to migrate Teams data to other and competing platforms.
- Providing APIs and developer tools to support third-party integrations to further promote a more open and fair ecosystem.
In short. The decision is “do you want Microsoft 365 with Teams or without“.
What’s Changing for Customers
Whether you’re an enterprise, medium or small business, the change is synonymous and ultimately gives organisations more choice and control:
- Choice: in whether you want to have Microsoft Teams included as part of your Microsoft 365 or Office 365 suite. No more default bundling.
- Transparency: with clearer pricing including reduced rates for suites without Teams Included.
- Flexibility: Long-term license holders can switch to the “Teams-free” versions should they wish.
- Consistency: The same options and pricing structures apply globally for every organisation across every region, meaning and end to regional licensing differences and rules.
In short. The decision is “do you want Microsoft 365 with Teams or without“.
Strategic Implications.
For organisations globally, this is a opportunity to reassess their productivity and collaboration strategy.
The global unbundling option opens the door to hybrid environments where Teams coexists across the business or departments meaning it’s more cost effective (IT integrations and support aside) to have multiple collaboration platforms such as to Slack, Zoom, or Webex for example.
Microsoft’s commitment to interoperability means third-party tools can now also fully embed Office Web Apps and access Teams-like functionality without being locked into the Microsoft stack or needed cumberson plug-ins which break the user interface and confuse users.
From a licensing perspective, this should also simplify procurement and renewals. There will be no more navigating region-specific bundles or opaque pricing.
For developers, the expanded API access is also a win and should help with line of business integration and interoperability across the board.
In short. The decision is “do you want Microsoft 365 with Teams or without“.
Talk to your Microsoft Partner
If you’re navigating Microsoft licensing or wondering how this impacts can positively impact your business come talk to your Microsoft Partner.
Whether you’re rethinking your collaboration strategy, looking to better understand and optimise your licensing or need help with technology deployment, adoption or training, we can help.