New Delhi: After a massive global outage that left millions stranded without essential workplace tools for over 36 hours, Microsoft has fully restored its core services, including Outlook, Teams, and Copilot. While normal operations have resumed, affected businesses now have the opportunity to claim service credit compensation for the severe disruption, according to a recent report by ABP News.
The extensive technical breakdown, which began on November 12, 2026, crippled corporate communications, airlines, and government agencies across more than 70 countries. Microsoft officially clarified that the disruption was caused by a technical glitch linked to a network configuration change, firmly ruling out any cyberattack or artificial intelligence involvement.
With services back online, the focus has shifted to recovering lost value. The ABP News utility desk highlights that Microsoft does not issue automated refunds for such outages. Instead, business customers must proactively file a claim to receive Service Level Agreement (SLA) credits. It is important to note that individual consumers using personal or Microsoft 365 Family plans are not directly eligible under this specific commercial SLA framework, though they can raise individual refund requests through standard consumer support channels.
For eligible businesses, the process requires administrative action. IT administrators who purchased software directly from Microsoft must navigate to the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, access the ‘Help & Support’ section, and submit an official request for an SLA service credit. Claimants are required to provide specific details, including incident IDs, affected services, and the exact duration of the downtime experienced by their organisation.
However, the protocol is slightly different for organisations that procured their software licenses through third-party vendors. Experts advise that indirect buyers must rely on their Cloud Solution Providers (CSPs) to file claims on their behalf, making it crucial for businesses to contact their vendors immediately with documented proof of the outage’s impact on their operations.
Organisations must act quickly, as the tech giant has set a strict window for these requests. All compensation claims related to the November 12 outage must be officially submitted by December 31, 2026.
While Microsoft has issued a public apology for the massive inconvenience and promised to release a comprehensive post-incident report, businesses are advised to gather their data and submit their SLA claims well before the year-end deadline.