Microsoft restores service to Outlook and Teams after global outage

Microsoft has fully restored its Outlook and Teams services after a global outage that lasted over 24 hours. The issue affected hundreds of millions of users and caused problems for businesses and governments worldwide. Microsoft confirmed that server issues were the root cause, and ruled out any malicious activity. The outage impacted critical functions such as email, calendar management, and virtual meetings.

While organizations that host Microsoft services on their own servers were less affected, many still experienced disruptions. This outage is one of the longest in Microsoft's history and the second major disruption to its services this year. Microsoft shares remained stable following the news, with the stock closing flat on Friday.

The incident highlights the heavy reliance on a few major tech companies for essential software and cloud infrastructure. Despite the disruption, experts suggest that this may not lead to a significant shift to alternative providers due to the high switching costs. Government agencies and private companies worldwide reported various issues, including delayed crime reporting, canceled bond transactions, and rescheduled earnings announcements.

The UK government is working with Microsoft to resolve the issue, while organizations in various sectors continue to manage the fallout from the outage.