Microsoft cloud computing service Azure experienced an outage for a few hours on March 16. The outage led to users experiencing difficulty in using other Microsoft services like Microsoft Teams, Xbox Live, and Microsoft Office 365. Microsoft acknowledged the outage earlier today.
The Microsoft Azure outage affected users worldwide. Due to the outage, users were prevented from using or accessing most functions of other services that depended on Azure. These include the likes of Microsoft Teams, Xbox Live, and Microsoft Office 365, etc.
We're investigating an issue for access to multiple M365 services. Please visit the admin center post M0244568 for more information. We'll provide additional information here as it becomes available.— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) March 15, 2021
The outage lasted for less than four hours before Microsoft patched it with an update. Upon investigation, it was found out that the Azure outage was due to a recent change in an authentication system.
We've identified the underlying cause of the problem and are taking steps to mitigate impact. We'll provide an updated ETA on resolution as soon as one is available. Additional information can be found at https://t.co/AEUj8uAGXl or under MO244568 if available.Related stories
— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) March 15, 2021
Microsoft rolled back the authentication update to mitigate the impact. After a couple of hours, all affected services were back online. Microsoft claimed that all Microsoft 365 services are showing decreasing error rates. "Our monitoring indicates that majority of the services have fully recovered. However, we’re addressing a subset of services that are still experiencing some residual impact and delays in recovery," Microsoft said.
