Why did Outlook crash and will it happen again? trends now

Tens of thousands of Microsoft users around the world have been unable to access services including Outlook, Teams and Xbox Live this morning.

The problems began at 07:00 GMT (02:00 ET) and Downdetector.com, which tracks website outages, showed that more than 5,000 people in the UK reported that they couldn't get into their emails.

Microsoft said it was 'investigating issues impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services'.

The tech giant later added that it had 'isolated the problem to networking configuration issues', but what exactly does that mean and what has gone wrong? MailOnline takes a look.

Tens of thousands of Microsoft users around the world have been unable to access services including Outlook, Teams and Xbox Live this morning

Microsoft said it was 'investigating issues impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services' (stock)

What has Microsoft said?

Microsoft tweeted: 'We're investigating issues impacting multiple Microsoft 365 services. More info can be found in the admin center under MO502273.

'We've identified a potential networking issue and are reviewing telemetry to determine the next troubleshooting steps.'

It later added: 'We've isolated the problem to networking configuration issues, and we're analysing the best mitigation strategy to address these without causing additional impact.

'We've rolled back a network change that we believe is causing impact. We're monitoring the service as the rollback takes effect.'

The tech giant later added that it had 'isolated the problem to networking configuration issues', but what exactly does that mean and what has gone wrong? MailOnline takes a look

WHY HAVE THERE BEEN SO MANY TECH JOB LOSSES?

The 'triple whammy' of a slowing economy, inflation and an end to pandemic-driven growth are all affecting the tech industry.

But according to tech analyst Paolo Pescatore, certain companies have made 'huge gambles' which will 'take many years to come to fruition, let alone think about making a profit'.

He specifically cited Meta and its Metaverse.

Mr Pescatore also blamed the layoffs on 'a poor earnings quarter for many of the big tech companies.

'Huge concerns given that we are moving into a recessionary period,' he told MailOnline.

'This creates a lot of uncertainty as it is hard to predict consumer behaviour and spending.

'There is a huge focus on cutting costs and driving greater efficiencies to improve margins for the year ahead.'

He added: 'There will be further bumps on the road ahead for the next year.

'Unfortunately it feels like an opportune moment to implement cost-cutting measures with others highly expected to follow suit.'

Laura Petrone, principal analyst at GlobalData, told MailOnline: 'The job cuts, first of all, reflect the macroeconomic slowdown and the fact that the job market is weakening.

'In addition, some big tech companies are struggling for reasons inherent to their business models.

'Social media companies like Meta and Twitter are the most vulnerable in this deteriorating economic outlook, as they are the most exposed to the slowdown in advertising spending.

'They realise that their business model is no longer viable but are struggling to find a real alternative.

'In addition they seem to be distracted by new projects - like the super-app in the case of Twitter and the metaverse in the case of Meta - that will not produce quick returns.'

She added: 'In general, cuts are also the consequences of these companies waking up to the new reality of low growth and finding themselves quite unprepared to deal with it.'

Tech companies are coming off a period of outsized growth, spurred on by the pandemic, according to Dan Wang, an associate professor at the Columbia Business School.

He told Business Insider that what is happening now is something of a correction, as the tech world recalibrates to a time when people are not spending all their time at home and stuck on their devices.

Is it a cyber attack?

Cyber security expert Jake Moore doesn't think so.

He told MailOnline: 'These outages are increasing in volume due to the sheer numbers of more online users and traffic.

'Many people are quick to suspect a cyber attack but this can often add to the confusion.

'It highlights the importance of these services and the millions of people they serve.'

Could it be sabotage?

The outage comes after Microsoft – which employs more than 220,000 people including 6,000 in the UK – last week announced plans for 10,000 job cuts across its global operations.

However, there's no suggestion at this stage that sabotage is involved.

So why has Outlook crashed?

Microsoft said that it has 'identified that a wide-area networking (WAN) routing change caused impact to the service'.

'We've rolled back the change and monitoring the service as it recovers. Some of the customers who had previously reported impact are also reporting recovery,' it added.

So what does this mean?

A WAN is a large network that can facilitate communication, the sharing of information and much more between devices from around the world.

The biggest one being, of course, the

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