Microsoft reported progress in restoring its major software services following a global outage that began on November 12. While the company noted that email backlogs have decreased and service performance is improving, over 20 products and services continue to experience errors.
The disruption affected users across more than 70 countries, according to Downdetector. Impacted sectors include government agencies, financial institutions, and healthcare providers. In the UK, the National Health Service postponed some appointments, while police departments reported difficulties receiving online crime reports.
The outage caused significant operational delays for global businesses. Companies like Richemont and Workhorse Group postponed their earnings reports. Additionally, PVH, the parent company of Calvin Klein, had to delay internal meetings regarding a planned 4% workforce reduction due to the system failure.
Government operations in several regions were also disrupted. Japan's Ministry of Finance resorted to posting paper notices for daily schedules, and New Zealand's immigration department suspended all visa application processing. Microsoft stated that a core process stopped responding due to high load.
