Microsoft reports outage of some office applications, cloud services

By Brody Ford and Charles Gorrivan

Microsoft Corp. said it’s investigating outages of some Office applications and cloud services.
 

“We are investigating reports of issues connecting to Microsoft services globally,” the company wrote in an update on a site to monitor accessibility of its Azure cloud services Tuesday. The issue is also impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services and features, Microsoft said in a post on social network X Tuesday morning. Microsoft 365 includes common productivity applications like Outlook, Word and Excel. 

Users may be either unable to access the apps, or experience worsened connection or performance, the company said in a message to customers seen by Bloomberg. Reports of outages on Azure and Microsoft 365 began to spike shortly after 7 a.m. New York time and comprised hundreds of complaints as of 9:40 a.m., according to user reports compiled by Downdetector.

Earlier this month, some 8 million computers running on the Windows operating system crashed after the cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. released a flawed software update. In addition, Microsoft has also been grappling with the fallout from a series of cyberattacks that prompted the US government to issue a scathing report calling for company-wide changes.

Microsoft is scheduled to report earnings Tuesday afternoon, with investors looking for signs that the company is starting to monetize its investments in artificial intelligence.