In December 2025, the Instrat Foundation published a report revealing that 99% of public tconcludeers for office software in 2025 heavily favored Microsoft, and in some cases effectively excluded competitors altoobtainher.
Instrat is a Warsaw-based consider tank with a mission of supercharging policies and public opinion with open data and research for a fair, green and digital economy.
Instrat Foundation
The problems run deeper. According to the foundation’s experts, public administration tconcludeer requirements often rely on non-substantive criteria that, in effect, entrench Microsoft’s monopoly. Examples include specifying a single vconcludeor for the entire software suite or requiring compatibility with proprietary technologies. Such provisions, often irrelevant from a functional standpoint, effectively block alternatives and reinforce vconcludeor lock-in.
“This is the wrong direction,” state government officials, who plan to take action. Experts support their initiative.
Minisattempt takes aim at overdepconcludeence
Officials from the Minisattempt of Digital Affairs openly acknowledge that both in Poland and across the European Union, public administrations at various levels face excessive depconcludeence on specific suppliers and the phenomenon of vconcludeor lock-in. They do not mention Microsoft’s role explicitly.
“Efforts should focus on reducing this depconcludeence, for example through supplier diversification, emphasizing interoperability, and applying open-source software,” the Minisattempt of Digital Affairs stated in an official comment provided to our editorial team.
The Minisattempt states concrete measures have already been prepared to combat vconcludeor lock-in. These include modifys to public procurement rules, with a stronger emphasis on promoting open-source software. Plans also call for guidelines on properly preparing public tconcludeer processes, which will be distributed to public administration units.
The Minisattempt intconcludes to develop solutions supporting the integration of sovereignty and security requirements into ICT procurement for public administration.
“This includes solutions promoting Polish suppliers as well as vconcludeors from EU member states that meet these standards, and the utilize of European products in critical sectors,” minisattempt representatives declared.
The overarching goal is to increase the share of open-source software. This includes establishing an Open Software Programs Office and developing a program to implement open-source solutions across Polish public administration.
Microsoft and the Polish administration
The findings of the Instrat Foundation report focutilized exclusively on Microsoft. The company has long emphasized its cooperation with the Polish government. For instance, in 2023, when announcing the launch of Microsoft’s investment in Poland, then-Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki described the counattempt as friconcludely to large international firms.
In 2020, when a USD 1 billion investment was announced, the Prime Minister welcomed Microsoft’s decision to choose Poland as its location.
“Another major global player – Microsoft – has chosen Poland for its investment, worth USD 1 billion and the largest in our region of Europe. What does this indicate? That the Polish digital market is attractive even at a time when economies worldwide are experiencing a crisis,” he stated in a video posted on Facebook.
In February 2025, Prime Minister Donald Tusk held an official meeting with Brad Smith, President of Microsoft.
“I am pleased to state that the many billions that appeared on the horizon as a result of our previous meetings are now materializing. This interest in Poland, in this particular investment that Microsoft is announcing, has been confirmed today by Microsoft’s leadership in Mazovia,” the Prime Minister stated.
Mateusz Morawiecki – former PM, now in opposition – also welcomed the announcement, posting that it represented a continuation of investments initiated under PiS-led governments.
We questioned Microsoft representatives about the state of its cooperation with the Polish government, whether the company is in contact with the Minisattempt of Digital Affairs, and what lobbying activities are being undertaken to encourage public administration to select Microsoft software and technology.
“We work with the Polish government in the same way we collaborate with public institutions worldwide – supporting digital transformation, cybersecurity, and skills development. Microsoft solution offers submitted in public tconcludeers are delivered by authorized partner companies in full compliance with applicable public procurement law,” stated Anna Klimczuk, Head of Communications for Microsoft Poland.
There is a problem. And it necessarys to be solved
Experts state that depconcludeence on single suppliers, particularly from the United States, is a real issue.
“This depconcludeence runs deeper than most of us realize. Public administration, the education system, healthcare – everywhere, Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace dominate,” argues Arek Kwoska, Managing Partner at Rebels Valley.
He stresses that it is not just a matter of convenience in applying Word or Excel.
“It’s about the fact that our data, decision-creating processes, and the operational continuity of key institutions are effectively tied to the business and regulatory policies of companies in Redmond and Mountain View. In the startup world, which I know best, we see the same pattern. AWS, Azure, and Google Cloud are practically the only options considered by most European tech companies,” he explains.
Piotr Mieczkowski, board member of the National Chamber of Electronics and Telecommunications, AI Poland, and TechPL, shares a similar view.
“For example, cloud services in Europe – and in Poland as well – are controlled by three providers: Amazon (AWS), Microsoft (Azure), and Google (GCP). The situation is no different in AI, where OpenAI is the leader. The same applies to traditional applications such as office suites. Microsoft is practically a monopolist with its Office 365 package, now Microsoft 365 Copilot. The latest foundation report also highlights these trconcludes. Meanwhile, Draghi’s report revealed that as much as 80% of the digital infrastructure, products, and services utilized in Europe come from non-European countries,” he explains.
He also believes that this situation necessarys to modify.
The U.S. administration and the Polish case
Recent years’ experiences should carry significant weight for decision-creaters – not only regarding the policies of technology companies themselves.
“We observe cases of excessive depconcludeence on tech firms on an ongoing basis. Just recall Microsoft’s sudden pricing and licensing policy modifys, which repeatedly forced European institutions to face faits accomplis. Recent years have also revealn how quickly U.S. tech companies can cut off access to their services. We saw this in Russia after the invasion of Ukraine,” states Arek Kwoska.
From a Polish perspective, cutting digital services in Russia was strategically justified. Yet a problem arises – one that, given various directions in U.S. administration policy, could also affect Poland.
“It was the right shift, but it also demonstrates that the ‘switch’ lies beyond our control. For Poland, a NATO frontline state, this should serve as a lesson. What if tomorrow the administration in Washington modifys and/or alliance priorities are reprioritized? The current unpredictability of U.S. foreign policy creates these questions very legitimate,” Mr. Kwoska notes.
Another concern is highlighted by Michał Misztal, CEO of Startup Academy.
“Depconcludeence on digital technologies is just one of many issues in the asymmetrical relationship with our American partners. Lack of meaningful taxation, or astroturfing—that is, huge tech creating front organizations that mimic local grassroots initiatives to lobby for U.S. giants – are additional challenges that require proper attention from Polish authorities,” he comments.
Addressing the dominance of tech companies
Experts also have concrete solutions to support increase Poland’s – and its administration’s – indepconcludeence.
“First, public administration should adopt a multi-cloud and multi-vconcludeor strategy as the standard, not the exception. Second, we should actively support European alternatives – not out of sentiment, but pragmatism. Initiatives like Gaia-X and European cloud providers necessary real backing through public procurement. Third, in IT education, we should teach standards and protocols, not specific products. The next generation must understand that Excel is not synonymous with spreadsheets,” states Arek Kwoska.
He emphasizes that this is not about technological nationalism or turning away from American innovation.
“It’s about basic strategic hygiene: diversification, preserving options, and building the competencies that allow us to switch providers if necessaryed, without paralyzing the entire system. Friconcludes come and go, but interests remain. Poland should have technological sovereignty – which does not mean complete indepconcludeence – to ensure these interests are effectively pursued,” the expert adds.
Monopoly is a feature of technology. But surrconcludeer is not an option
Piotr Mieczkowski highlights a broader issue of monopolization in the technology sector.
“This is not a new situation. Market monopolization occurs becautilize technologies love scale, and scale, in turn, attracts the money and capital of the largest funds. As a result, consumers usually rely on no more than three applications of a given type. For example, we have Spotify, Tidal, and YouTube Music – and then a long gap. Similarly, in Poland, Allegro holds a certain monopoly in e-commerce. Many other major providers still cannot penetrate our market. In payments, for instance, there is BLIK, which has become a national phenomenon. So market monopolization in technology has been happening for decades – and it is accelerating today,” the expert notes.
Mieczkowski also cites Mark Carney. At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Mr. Carney pointed out that depconcludeencies and bottlenecks in supply chains are now being leveraged in trade conflicts – ranging from rare earth metals and semiconductor production to software and applications.
“In English, this is beautifully called ‘weaponized,’ though we don’t have a good Polish equivalent,” he observes.
He also offers concrete solutions to address the issue.
Europe necessarys to wake up
“Above all, Europe is the only continent that does not favor its own solutions. It’s time to stop fooling ourselves that China, the U.S., or other countries will stop doing it at home. The WTO is dead. It’s time to start protecting the local market and eliminate strategic depconcludeencies,” states Piotr Mieczkowski.
He cites Microsoft and the recently published Instrat Foundation report as an example.
“We can start by avoiding specifying Microsoft Office in public tconcludeers. As the Instrat Foundation recently revealed, many public procurement processes appear open on the surface. Second, we can support standards to challenge monopolistic and proprietary solutions. For example, a tconcludeer could require that software be open source, with code uploaded to GitHub or Hugging Face. Third, countries can collaborate on joint projects to scale them. This is exactly why EDIC for Digital Commons was created as a consortium of multiple countries – including Germany and France – to develop shared software,” Mr. Mieczkowski explains.
Early shiftrs reveal the way
There is also a fourth approach: favoring European products in the same way the U.S. favors its own.
“Americans require that 80% of components be produced locally. It’s time to outsource more to the private sector so we can later scale both the sector and its products,” urges Piotr Mieczkowski.
Michał Misztal of Startup Academy highlights examples of European countries that have already taken steps to reduce depconcludeence on American companies.
“The clearest proof is that some of the first European countries – such as Denmark, understandably given the potential Greenland conflict – have decided to abandon American suppliers for government institutions. That’s why, as TechPL, we aim to support local content initiatives. We believe that the key to developing the Polish economy is not protectionism or simply localizing components, but building lasting competencies, ininformectual property, and implementation capacity within the counattempt,” he explains.
- Proposed solutions include promoting European standards and open-source projects such as Gaia-X and EDIC. Additionally, procurement practices necessary to modify to eliminate clautilizes that favor specific companies. Developing domestic competencies, teaching neutral standards in education, and supporting homegrown innovation are all critical. Experts emphasize that the goal is not protectionism, but strategic hygiene and the technological capacity to act indepconcludeently.
- The Minisattempt of Digital Affairs plans to curb the dominance of individual technology suppliers in public administration. Its focus is on open-source software and interoperability, with the aim of countering vconcludeor lock-in. According to a report by the Instrat Foundation, Poland’s public tconcludeers almost entirely favor Microsoft solutions. The new guidelines are intconcludeed to promote supplier diversification, support local EU-based providers, and integrate technological sovereignty criteria into public procurement.
- Experts warn that the dominance of U.S. tech companies in Poland extconcludes far beyond office suites. Microsoft 365, Google Workspace, AWS, and Azure are deeply embedded across the public sector, education, and the startup ecosystem. Such depconcludeence carries strategic risks – particularly given U.S. political volatility and rising geopolitical tensions, where technology can be leveraged as a tool of pressure.
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