Two major cloud service providers, Amazon’s AWS and Microsoft’s Azure, experienced simultaneous outages last night, leading to significant disruptions for users. The outages impacted key websites and apps such as Microsoft 365, Outlook, Starbucks, and Asda. Gamers were also affected, with disruptions reported on Xbox and Minecraft.
Users reported issues throughout the day on DownDetector, a website that tracks online outages, including problems with Office 365, Minecraft, Xbox Live, Copilot, Costco, Starbucks, and other services. Alaska Airlines mentioned that the outage affected their systems, causing problems with check-in services. Similarly, Air New Zealand faced travel delays due to the inability to process payments or digital boarding passes. Notably, websites for institutions like New Zealand’s police and parliament were also affected by the outage.
Fortunately, the outages have been resolved. Microsoft addressed the lengthy Azure outage, reporting no active incidents on their dashboard by Wednesday evening. The company assured users that full mitigation was expected by a specific time.
As the services are gradually recovering, Microsoft and other companies impacted by the outages are working diligently to restore normal operations. The incident underscores the critical role that cloud platforms like Azure play in supporting various online services and businesses, emphasizing the need for robust infrastructure and contingency plans in the digital age.