Microsoft outage and the different reactions of IT service providers

How companies and IT service providers are reacting to the latest Microsoft outage.

On March 1 of this year, thousands of Microsoft Outlook users experienced a complete outage of their services. Media such as CNN reported extensively on this (e.g. “Microsoft outage leaves thousands of users without access to email and apps”). Such an incident is annoying, but it can happen in the digital world. But what was really remarkable was the way parts of the specialist retail market reacted.

One example of this is the website bios-tec.de, which advertises with the slogan “Stable IT for SMEs”. Customers were recommended to rely more on Microsoft products, in particular Microsoft 365 Backup. According to the provider, this additional product could prevent “sudden data loss” and “hours of downtime” - and give them back control over their own data. An interesting logic: first a provider causes a massive outage, and then you are supposed to regain control by investing further in their products?

There are certainly alternatives: independent server solutions, fail-safe or not, which not only offer more control but often also significantly lower costs. However, such options are often pushed into the background as they may seem less attractive depending on an IT service provider’s business model.

This incident shows once again how much companies are getting used to being dependent on large cloud service providers and how little room is being created for real alternatives. Perhaps it’s time to take a closer look at individual, more flexible solutions again - before the next major outage occurs.

Collax offers companies an alternative and focuses on openness and interoperability. Our products are built on open source technologies, which offers the advantages of transparent and flexible software. With us, the source codes can be reviewed, adapted and extended without being tied to rigid proprietary systems. And our software is MADE IN GERMANY.

Despite the use of open source technologies, we offer professional support and maintenance services. So you are not left on your own, but can rely on our German-speaking support.