I’m sorry if you are traveling this week.
Apparently, the latest Microsoft update was a “downdate”(my word).
Company A updated software for Company B which was on Microsoft’s cloud. According to Microsoft, it was not a Cybersecurity attack. I guess that’s the good news. But not really - because if you are one of those effected, that explanation falls short.
In this New York Times article this morning, Microsoft responded, “The company was aware of the issue “affecting a subset of customers,” a Microsoft representative said in a statement. “We acknowledge the impact this can have on customers, and we are working to restore services for those still experiencing disruptions as quickly as possible.”
If you had a once-in-a-lifetime vacation planned, or you were traveling for a critical client meeting, visiting a friend on life support, than maybe this statement falls short for you.
The fallout, in terms of lost customers, eroded loyalty, and finger pointing remains to be seen and will largely depend on both the duration of the outage and Microsoft’s communication to their customers.
Today’s global outage reflects the growing importance of institutional trust - only amplified by the race to implement generative AI.
Because when trust is broken, and the response falls short of customer expectations, customers talk with their feet.
That means changes (policy, technology, procedures, etc.) must start with the customer experience and a clear understanding of the likely fail points. CX leading companies will measure the risks and impact on customers and have a plan to respond with empathy.
And when things go sideways, a timely and appropriate response should be top priority.
Here's the link to the CNN story: https://qrcd.org/63pg
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