Tens of thousands of users experienced disruptions on Wednesday after a configuration error in Microsoft Azure caused widespread outages across multiple platforms. Services including Xbox, Microsoft 365, and Minecraft were affected, along with retailers such as Kroger and Starbucks, which rely on Azure's cloud infrastructure.
DownDetector recorded a surge in outage reports, with users unable to access websites and apps. Kroger acknowledged the issue on social media, stating that its banner sites and mobile apps were experiencing an unexpected outage. Alaska Airlines also reported disruptions to key systems, including its website, due to the Azure problem.
The outage extended to the UK, affecting Heathrow Airport, NatWest, and Vodafone. Voting at the Scottish Parliament was suspended as technical issues prevented MSPs from casting votes. Microsoft confirmed that the incident was caused by an inadvertent configuration change and that services were restored by Wednesday evening.
Dr Saqib Kakvi of Royal Holloway, University of London, commented on the fragility of relying on a few major cloud providers, noting that this outage mirrored a similar incident at Amazon Web Services the previous week. He warned that economic pressures lead to consolidation, putting many eggs in one of three baskets.
By Thursday morning, Azure's status page showed no active events. This marks the second major cloud outage in two weeks, following AWS issues that affected Snapchat, Duolingo, and Roblox.
