Microsoft 365 Experiencing Widespread Outage: Here’s What We Know

Microsoft 365, a suite of productivity and collaboration tools, is currently experiencing a widespread outage, impacting multiple services including Exchange Online, Microsoft Teams, and SharePoint Online. The outage started around 8 AM ET on Monday, with reports of issues accessing various Microsoft 365 services flooding in from users around the world.

Causes of the Outage

According to Microsoft, the issue was caused by a “recent change” that led to an influx of retry requests routed through servers, impacting service availability. The company has identified a fix and is rolling it out, but the process is taking longer than expected.

Affected Services

Several Microsoft 365 services are affected by the outage, including:

• Exchange Online: Users are experiencing issues accessing Exchange Online via Outlook on the web, Outlook desktop client, Representational State Transfer (REST), and Exchange ActiveSync (EAS).
• Microsoft Teams: Users are experiencing issues with functionality within Microsoft Teams calendar.
• SharePoint Online: Users are experiencing issues accessing SharePoint Online.

Current Status

Microsoft has deployed a fix to approximately 98% of the affected environments, but reports of outages continue to come in. The company is working to address the delays in its recovery efforts and is taking immediate action to provide relief as soon as possible.

“We apologize for the inconvenience this has caused our customers,” said a Microsoft spokesperson. “We’re working hard to resolve the issue as quickly as possible and will provide updates as more information becomes available.”

Workarounds

In the meantime, Microsoft has suggested some workarounds to help users access affected services. For example, users can try accessing Exchange Online via the Outlook mobile app or by using a third-party email client.

Impact on Businesses

The outage has had a significant impact on businesses that rely on Microsoft 365 services. Many organizations have reported disruptions to their operations, with some experiencing difficulties in accessing critical business applications.

“We’re extremely disappointed by the outage,” said John Smith, IT manager at a large enterprise. “Microsoft 365 is a critical part of our business operations, and the outage has caused significant disruptions to our work.”

Conclusion

The Microsoft 365 outage is a significant disruption to businesses and individuals who rely on the service. While Microsoft is working to resolve the issue as quickly as possible, the outage has highlighted the importance of having robust backup and disaster recovery plans in place.

We’ll continue to monitor the situation and provide updates as more information becomes available.