Microsoft fixes Exchange Online after nine-hour outage

Microsoft finally managed to fix the Exchange Online outage that led to denial of access to email for almost nine hours on Tuesday, Computer World reported. Many users took out their frustration online as they struggled to get their work done.

The company did not say how many customers were hit, but if the complaints posted in discussion forums and social media sites are any indication, the numbers may have been substantial.

Also the length of the outage, and the fact that it struck during work hours, made it a significant and embarrassing outage for Microsoft, which is taking on Google in the cloud communication and collaboration software market.

The company is pushing Exchange Online not only as a stand-alone service, but also as a  component of Office 365, Microsoft's cloud communication and collaboration suite for businesses, schools, government agencies and non-profit organizations.

A Microsoft representative posted an update in page 15 of a discussion thread in the Office 365 support forum, that said, the service had been restored around 6 pm US Eastern Time. The outage came shortly after 9 am.

"Investigation determined that a portion of the networking infrastructure entered into a degraded state. Engineers made configuration changes on the affected capacity to remediate end-user impact," wrote the Microsoft support official, identified as David Zhang.

Meanwhile, reminiscent of the 1980s, the outage left workers no choice but to pick up the phone or wander over to their colleagues to chat in person.

The Washington Post quoted Kevin Watson, who runs a political consulting firm in San Clemente, California, as saying the he had had to contact his clients over the phone. He added one could not stop because there was no e-mail.

While it was impossible to imagine the modern working world without an inbox flooded with too many e-mails, however during a long window Tuesday for many Outlook users, there was silence.

Though Microsoft confirmed the outage, the company, throughout the day the company declined to offer details about the size and scope of the problem.

However, by 6 pm the company said it had resolved the e-mail issue and that users would be able to see their undelivered messages hit their shortly.

Later in the evening, the firm said the problem affected only customers in North America, but it still did not explain what had gone wrong.