Capitec, Airlink hit by Microsoft global outage

A Microsoft outage has reportedly affected banks, airlines, telecommunications companies, and TV and radio broadcasters across the globe.

It’s unclear what caused the outage, but Microsoft South Africa told The Citizen that people should refer to Microsoft’s service pages for information and updates regarding the outage.

Microsoft users in various countries, including the US, UK, Australia and India, were unable to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services on Friday morning.

Reports also indicated that Sky News in the UK, and ABC in Australia have been impacted, interrupting broadcasts or causing equipment like autocues to malfunction.

Microsoft investigating

The tech giant in a social media post said it was investigating the outage.

“We’re investigating an issue impacting users’ ability to access various Microsoft 365 apps and services…We still expect that users will continue to see gradual relief as we continue to mitigate the issue.

“Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions,” it said in a post.

Our services are still seeing continuous improvements while we continue to take mitigation actions. More details can be found within the admin center under MO821132 and https://t.co/Htn4qQEnsp

— Microsoft 365 Status (@MSFT365Status) July 19, 2024

ALSO READ: What’s up with WhatsApp? Messenger back up after hours-long global outage

In South Africa, the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) in Sandton issued a notice notifying clients that the FTSE indices were not updating.

“Clients are advised that we are aware the FTSE issue globally and are awaiting resolution. Clients are advised to trade with caution,” it said.

Capitec

It is understood that Capitec Bank has also been affected by the Microsoft downtime.

“We are currently experiencing nationwide service issues, affecting all services. The issue is an international issue which is affecting multiple banks and retailers. We are working hard to resolve this. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,“ the bank said in a post.  

Hi @TermLee, we are currently experiencing nationwide service issues, affecting all services. The issue is an international issue which is affecting multiple banks and retailers. We are working hard to resolve this. We apologise for any inconvenience caused.

— Capitec (@CapitecBankSA) July 19, 2024

Airlink

The outage also affected the Airlink arline in South Africa.

“Airlink would like to inform all its customers that our IT network, including telephone lines, are currently down due to an unforeseen global network outage. We are working tirelessly to restore IT services and return to normal business systems as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience caused,” the airline said in a social media post.

Network and Communication Outage #Airlink would like to inform all its customers that our IT network, including telephone lines, are currently down due to an unforeseen global network outage. We are working tirelessly to restore IT services and return to normal business systems… pic.twitter.com/g0DALbRFlO

— Airlink (@Fly_Airlink) July 19, 2024

This is not the first time that Microsoft has experienced technical issues.

In March, Microsoft 365 users in Europe, the Middle East and Africa reported issues, with many saying they were unable to access various software and cloud-based services.

Tech outages

A few tech companies have been affected by downtimes recently.

In April, social media users were relieved after Meta-owned WhatsApp was back up after an hours-long outage that affected users of the app across the globe.

In May, South Africans on the Telkom network were left frustrated by a major network outage.

Customers vented their frustration on social media about internet issues. 

ALSO READ: Telkom network restored after nationwide outage, users compensated with 1GB data