Microsoft outage disrupts Gisborne businesses as Outlook and Copilot go down

Detailed summary

Gisborne businesses have been forced to adapt as a Microsoft outage has taken down its cloud-based services such as Outlook and Copilot for hours today. According to Downdetector,…

Gisborne businesses and the council felt the impact of a worldwide Microsoft outage. Image / Downdetector.com

Gisborne businesses have been forced to adapt as a Microsoft outage has taken down its cloud-based services such as Outlook and Copilot for hours today.

According to Downdetector, users worldwide began reporting problems with the company’s software at 6.30am New Zealand time. Issues remained as of 3.30pm.

Catalyst Accounting owner Ashley Fisher said the outage was “challenging”, with email the primary form of communication for his 200 clients.

“Getting invoices to customers, quotes to customers, all that kind of stuff is currently not happening.”

Fisher is also president of the Gisborne Chamber of Commerce, whose communications have also been impacted.

“Things that are pertinent and current, we’re trying to get them out quickly, and with the primary form of communication down, then that’s a real challenge.

He said he’d experienced outages before, though they were usually resolved within an hour.

“If people don’t get invoices and they don’t get their statements, then they don’t know what to pay and then they haven’t communicated with suppliers, then the product stops coming through the door and then it just delays the whole system.”

Opening of the article, excerpted from NZ Herald Business. To read the rest, open the article on the publisher's site.