The Challenge
In today’s hyper-connected digital world, unexpected outages can wreak havoc on business operations. Recently, two major incidents—the Microsoft Azure outage and the CrowdStrike outage—hit simultaneously, creating a perfect storm for businesses across the country and around the world.
Technical Environment
What Actually Happened
The Microsoft Azure outage primarily affected the Central Time Zone, causing widespread service disruptions. This incident was triggered by a failed backend configuration change that blocked access between Azure Storage clusters and compute resources. The disruption impacted multiple services, including Virtual Machines, Cosmos DB, and Microsoft 365 applications, lasting over 14 hours and affecting critical infrastructure across various industries.
At the same time, the CrowdStrike outage—one of the largest in recent memory—left many organizations exposed as their primary cybersecurity defenses went offline. The issue stemmed from a faulty sensor configuration update in the CrowdStrike Falcon platform, which caused a logic error, resulting in system crashes and the infamous blue screen of death (BSOD) on millions of Windows systems globally. This outage affected critical operations in sectors ranging from healthcare to transportation to financial services and others.
MicroAge Managed Services & Security Success Metrics
- Comprehensive Support: MicroAge successfully assisted Managed Services and Managed Security clients affected by one or both outages to get clients back online within hours
- Proactive Detection: Our team identified outages and early warning signs during off hours and before clients or vendors, saving critical response time and enabling immediate action
- Rapid Response: MicroAge initiated client contact and remediation within 1 hour of first alerts
- Extended Service: MicroAge also supported multiple clients with CrowdStrike issues despite being out of scope
- Efficient Resolution:
> Most clients back online within 14 hours
> All clients restored within 17 hours - Minimized Downtime: Our expert team reduced potential 24-72 hour outages to under 17 hours for all affected clients
Impact on Client Operations
These outages didn’t discriminate—they affected businesses across the board. About 28% of MicroAge’s Managed Services and Managed Security clients felt the impact of one or both incidents. While the Azure outage was more localized, the CrowdStrike issue cast a wider net. The fallout varied, but here are the common themes that emerged:
- Operational Downtime: Critical business functions ground to a halt across industries. Airlines faced scheduling nightmares, while financial services struggled to process transactions.
- Data Vulnerability: With security systems compromised, organizations faced an increased risk of data breaches, raising concerns about compliance and data integrity.
- Productivity Loss: Employees couldn’t access essential tools and systems, leading to a significant drop in productivity. The ripple effect touched everything from customer service to internal communications.
- Authentication Issues: Many clients, if not already logged into systems, couldn’t log in at all, while those who were logged in often saw the proverbial ‘blue screen of death.’
To illustrate the impact, consider one of our hospitality clients. With 25 data centers spread across various regions, they experienced a complete system meltdown. Guests were locked out of their rooms, new arrivals couldn’t check in, and even basic services like room service, housekeeping, and restaurants came to a grinding halt.
The CrowdStrike outage affected over 1,000 organizations globally. Many companies using CrowdStrike services saw their stock prices take a temporary hit, dropping 3% to 5% in the days following the incident. The financial toll was staggering—estimates suggest hundreds of millions of dollars in losses due to revenue disruptions and increased operational costs from both outages combined.
The healthcare sector wasn’t spared either. Hospitals experienced delays in accessing electronic health records and telemedicine services, affecting around 1.5 million patients worldwide. While no major incidents of patient harm were reported, the potential risks were alarming.
The transportation industry also took a significant hit. Thousands of flights were canceled globally, with the U.S. alone seeing over 3,000 cancellations and more than 12,000 delays on the first day of the outage.
As the crisis unfolded, reports flooded in from across the globe, with businesses desperately seeking quick fixes. Meanwhile, partners raced against time to develop and distribute patches, updates, and critical communications to clients and partners. The severity of the situation became painfully clear as many organizations found themselves waiting 24, 48, or even 72 hours to restore their systems—an eternity in today’s fast-paced digital economy where every minute of downtime translates to significant losses.
The Solution
Proactive Identification & Quick Remediation Response
There are moments in history where having an expert Managed Security Services provider at your side pays off in monumental ways, and this was definitely one of them. The MicroAge team didn’t just respond—they identified the outages as they began to occur, before our clients knew what was happening, and before the partners identified them and communicated with clients or partners directly.
Due to the proactive monitoring conducted by the security team, they noticed early warning signs the evening the outages began. MicroAge experts verified the Azure issues first, then began systematically contacting clients to notify their teams and started deploying the necessary patches and fixes in collaboration with clients. They leveraged their cloud expertise to find workarounds, rerouting traffic and deploying backup systems to get critical operations back online as soon as possible, working with clients to validate mission-critical and priority systems one by one. As the Microsoft fixes were underway that same evening, the CrowdStrike outage began.
Despite the CrowdStrike outage not being within the initial scope of their responsibilities, the MicroAge team stepped up to support their clients. They implemented recommended workarounds, closely working with their clients to provide real-time updates and bring systems back online as quickly as possible. This proactive stance ensured that clients minimized the impact of the outage, demonstrating the value of having a dedicated and responsive Managed Services and Managed Security partner.
The Timeline
The response was nothing short of a well-orchestrated symphony:
- Friday, 9:00 pm: First Azure alerts start trickling in.
- Friday, 10:00 pm: MicroAge jumps on the Azure issue; notices systems going offline.
- Friday, 11:00 pm: Microsoft confirms the Azure outage in the Central Time Zone; MicroAge verifies before alerting clients.
- Saturday, 2:30 am: The plot thickens—clients confirm it’s also a CrowdStrike issue; MicroAge shifts gears to tackle both problems, regardless of their support agreement.
- Saturday, 11:00 am: Most affected clients are back in business.
- Saturday, 2:00 pm: Last client is up and running.
- Total time to resolution for all MicroAge Managed Services and Managed Security Services Clients: 17 hours (with most back online within 14 hours).
The Importance of Partnership
In light of recent events such as the Microsoft Azure and CrowdStrike outages, it’s crucial to recognize the importance of standing firm with our external technology and services partners. These partners provide tremendous value day after day in the face of increasingly complex challenges in launching, maintaining, and securing sophisticated technology systems that serve and protect millions of businesses and their end customers worldwide.
Incidents can happen to any company. The key is recognizing that reliable partners will recover, learn, and improve their systems. This resilience demonstrates their commitment to protecting their clients.
MicroAge is dedicated to building strong, collaborative relationships with our technology and security partners. Open communication fosters trust and enables effective collaboration, ensuring businesses can navigate cybersecurity complexities with confidence.
Key Takeaways
When the digital world shows cracks in the armor, having a reliable Managed Services and Managed Security Services partner can make all the difference to your business and revenue in the short term and your reputation and brand over the long term. Our Managed Services team is architected to deliver quick thinking and a proactive approach, which, in this case, not only minimized downtime but also protected data, revenue, and clients’ brand reputation. It got business running again, fast.
In a world where every minute of downtime can cost millions, choosing the right Managed Services and Managed Security Services provider isn’t just smart—it’s essential for survival in the digital age.
When minutes matter, are you confident in your protection?
Let’s talk
If you need a partner who proactively protects you and ensures your business runs smoothly, MicroAge is here to help. Contact us today at (800) 544-8877.
