Microsoft celebrates end of Office 2021 LTSC with MS 365 outage

Microsoft has concluded support for Office 2021 LTSC, coinciding with a Microsoft 365 service disruption for some European users. The problem lies with Global Secure Access (GSA), a service used for accessing Outlook, OneDrive, SharePoint Online, Teams, and Windows 365 Cloud PCs. Microsoft attributes the issue to a section of GSA infrastructure operating below acceptable performance thresholds, leading to connectivity concerns.

The company is implementing traffic and performance enhancements, although customers continue to face difficulties accessing Microsoft 365 services. This incident occurs as Microsoft pushes customers towards migration from on-premises Office LTSC to cloud-based Microsoft 365, though the on-premises Office LTSC 2024 version remains an option.

Microsoft has been forced to provide status updates via its Service Health Status page, as administrators may struggle to access the admin center for service health information. The message status reads: "We are having trouble getting info about your service incidents, advisories, and history right now. Try again in a few minutes."

As businesses decide whether to remain on-premises, migrate to the cloud, or pursue alternative solutions, it is evident that even Microsoft 365's reliability is not guaranteed, raising concerns about the practicality of cloud services in maintaining productivity.