A Microsoft 365 failure demonstrates that even though other functions may still be usable, reliance on email can disrupt business processes. A research report titled “365: Continuity Measures for Long-Term Cloud Failures” covers recovery verification, potential security gaps, and continuity measures to address such issues. Infotech
Arlington, Virginia, November 13, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- In response to the Microsoft 365 outage that began on November 12, Global Research and API, a consulting firm specializing in Infotech, recommend that CIO verify whether critical business workflows, system integrations, and security controls have been restored before announcing the return to normal operations. The company's new research report, "365 Outage: Immediate Actions for CIOs," also advises businesses to document the service interruption and retain evidence in order to make claims under future Service Level Agreements (SLAs) SLA.
The issue began on Thursday afternoon when access to the Exchange Online email service in North America failed, affecting functions such as Teams, SharePoint, Copilot, and Defender. By late Thursday, the servers that had been restored to service failed again under heavy load. Microsoft subsequently increased their capacity and began rolling back a recent network change. According to an update on November 13th at noon Eastern Time, service availability is improving, but intermittent problems still exist, and Microsoft has not provided a timeline for recovery. At that time, Microsoft stated that no evidence of malicious activity was found, and the root cause is still under investigation.
Infotech, Vice President of Research and Development, stated: "CIO needs a clear basis to inform the business departments that normal operations can resume. This means identifying which key processes have been tested, which areas still require security checks, and which teams must continue to use alternative solutions. Management updates should clearly present these unresolved issues so that business teams can plan their next steps."
The cases summarized in the report Infotech show that where there were alternative manual pathways, backup solutions were able to maintain operations; however, in instances where email was the sole channel of communication, business activities came to a standstill. According to news reports, affected areas included delays in patient referrals and court communications, while some organizations managed to maintain critical operations through other systems or manual processes. The core messaging and meeting functions of Teams , as well as the direct file access of SharePoint , also remained largely available. This further indicates that it is necessary to assess the specific functions and interdependencies that support each business process.
Microsoft 365 Response and Recovery Recommendations
Infotech It is recommended to CIO focus on maintaining operations and documenting the impact. IT During the recovery period, the team should continue to document unsolved issues and failed alternative solutions, so that management can clearly understand the operational status and create a record to guide improvements to the continuity plan.
The company's research report " Microsoft 365 Outage : Immediate Actions for CIOs " will make the following recommendations:
- Maintain critical operations. Microsoft's service health notifications do not imply that every business process has been restored. It is necessary to maintain alternative communication methods and access to critical information independently of Microsoft 365, verify whether critical business workflows, integrations, and transactions in queue have been correctly restored, and document the continuity gaps exposed by this failure.
- Strengthen network security practices. In previous large-scale outages, threat actors often impersonated Microsoft support personnel and promised to restore access. Employees should be reminded to be wary of phishing emails, attempts to steal credentials, as well as deeply forged voice and video calls that may occur during interruptions and restoration periods. It is also necessary to confirm whether the affected security monitoring and policy enforcement functions have been restored, including service-related log records and policies, and to review any potential gaps in coverage that may have arisen during the outage.
- Prepare for claims under the Service Level Agreement (SLA). Service compensation is not automatically issued; filing a claim typically requires evidence that the customer has been directly affected, beyond just confirming that a widespread outage occurred. Enterprises should retain evidence of the outage, such as service health notifications, record the actual disruption, and have their supplier management and legal teams review the applicable agreements to determine whether the conditions for compensation are met, what evidence is required, and the deadline for submission.
From a longer-term perspective, Infotech emphasizes that it is necessary to test the continuity programs for long-term failures that affect multiple cloud services. Enterprises should identify where dependencies on a single cloud environment create common failure points and establish independent continuity options when the business impact is significant enough.
Other resources include the company's " Develop a Business Continuity Plan ", " Create a Right - Sized Disaster Recovery Plan ", as well as IT Communications Research Center.
For more information, you can download the complete report titled " Microsoft 365 Outage : Immediate Actions for CIOs ". If you wish to obtain exclusive media comments from an expert in Infotech, please contact [ email protected ].
About Infotech
Infotech (formerly Info - Tech Research Group) provides consulting services driven by API to over 30,000 IT leaders worldwide, helping them systematically enhance organizational capabilities. With 30 years of trusted professional experience and proven influence, Infotech offers industry-leading expert guidance, mature methods, practical tools, training, coaching, and consulting to technology leaders, aiming to accelerate decision-making and deliver measurable results.
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