Microsoft 365 outage disrupts NZ businesses, delaying settlements and court cases

A global Microsoft 365 outage on Friday disrupted email and Teams services, leaving New Zealand businesses scrambling for alternatives and delaying property settlements and court appearances. The outage began at 6.30am NZT, affecting Outlook, Teams, Copilot, and OneDrive, with Microsoft actively monitoring affected infrastructure and working to restore server availability. The disruption hit the legal sector particularly hard, blocking bank drawdown information and threatening settlements. By Friday night, issues remained unresolved, though Microsoft executive vice president Charles Lamanna stated there is "no indication" the outage stems from malicious or cyber activity.