A significant outage has hit Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform. This manipulation of the disruption is impacting millions of websites, creating havoc for millions of businesses and consumers. The outage first started around 1600 GMT on Wednesday, with Azure initially reporting a “degradation of some services.” As a result, millions of users worldwide have noticed connectivity issues while trying to reach different websites and online services—including thousands of our own users.
According to Downdetector, a service that tracks outages, the site saw a spike in reports from users unable to access anything. This included the supermarket chain Asda’s website. So too was the British mobile phone operator O2. Here in the United States, the world’s largest retailers, including Starbucks and Kroger, did their best to respond. This was further testimony to the widespread impact of the Azure outage.
Microsoft’s Azure cloud computing platform quickly became integral to the day-to-day operation of much of our nation’s critical infrastructure and private sector applications and systems. Dr. Saqib Kakvi, a cloud computing specialist at Royal Holloway University, said the crisis was acute.
“It can cripple hundreds, if not thousands of applications and systems.” – Dr. Saqib Kakvi, Royal Holloway University.
Moreover, as organizations do business entirely in the cloud, any service disruption can impact their entire operations. The outage temporarily cut access to major e-commerce websites. It affected customer service channels and even back-office applications within organizations.
The root cause of the Azure service degradation has still not been officially disclosed by Microsoft. The company is working to resolve the issues as quickly as possible. Users affected by the outage have taken to social media to express their frustrations and seek updates on the situation.