Microsoft Cloud Services Experience Major 12-Hour Outage Worldwide
Microsoft's cloud services shut down for over 12 hours, disrupting operations globally from hospitals to government offices.
NEW DELHI, Nov 13: Microsoft’s cloud services, including Teams, Outlook, and Microsoft 365, have been down for more than 12 hours, affecting users in over 74 countries. The company reported that the issue is not related to a cyberattack but stems from overloaded servers and communication failures between machines.
Users globally have faced disruptions, with significant implications for various sectors. Schools, government agencies, and healthcare providers in countries such as the United States, Canada, Australia, and Japan reported problems. In the UK, the National Health Service announced that some patients might be unable to get their prescriptions due to email issues. Municipalities in the US, including Austin and Jacksonville, also experienced disruptions, although emergency services remained operational.
Microsoft’s failure to resolve the outage quickly has raised concerns. Staff members in the US House of Representatives indicated that their work was severely impacted, with one anonymous employee stating, “We all use Outlook. That’s our life; everything is there.” Though Microsoft mentioned that connectivity problems were the root cause, it has yet to clarify how these issues arose.
As the outage progressed, some services began to show signs of recovery. Microsoft indicated that functionality for core features like joining calls and group chats remained intact, but problems persist in areas dependent on Exchange Online. Users have struggled with accessing emails, calendar functionalities, and Microsoft 365 education features.
Doug Madory from Kentik reported that after about 18 hours of downtime, traffic to Microsoft’s services was starting to return. Still, the extent of the recovery remains unclear, as many users continue to experience disruptions.