Microsoft outage disrupts Swiss companies and public authorities

Microsoft’s service disruption reached companies and public institutions across Switzerland, interrupting routine work from email and document access to online meetings. Richemont, Zurich Insurance, Nestlé and Barry Callebaut were among the businesses affected. Students at universities, including ETH Zurich, also encountered problems with Microsoft tools.

The effects varied by organisation. Some users struggled to send or receive messages, while others could not access platforms used for documents and collaboration. Richemont’s delay in publishing its half-year results offered one of the clearest public signs of the disruption: the release was pushed back by about 40 minutes.

The outage began internationally on Thursday, November 12, and affected businesses, public administrations and private users in several countries. In Switzerland, the consequences ranged from delayed corporate reporting to interruptions in services used by university students.

Richemont’s half-year results appeared about 40 minutes later than planned. The Geneva-based luxury group had scheduled publication for 7am on Friday and confirmed to news agency AWP that Microsoft’s IT outage affected it. The delay put a visible mark on the disruption at a company whose results release is a major scheduled corporate event.

Zurich Insurance faced a different problem. The group reported a partial email outage in a statement issued in Germany. Some users could neither send nor receive messages. The company advised customers with urgent enquiries to call, and extended the guidance to people dealing with claims.

The incidents show how the disruption touched separate parts of business operations: Richemont’s reporting schedule and Zurich Insurance’s communications with customers. The effects were not identical, but both organisations had to manage around failures in Microsoft services. For Zurich Insurance, the telephone became the recommended route for urgent contact while email was impaired.

Nestlé reported delays in some business processes, especially activities that relied on email. The food multinational said operations continued largely as normal, and its production facilities were not affected. That distinction kept the disruption away from factory production while delays affected some office-based processes.

Swiss Post also directed customers with urgent needs to telephone the company. Its letter and parcel sorting and delivery continued without disruption. The chocolate manufacturer Barry Callebaut was among the other businesses affected.

At universities, students encountered problems accessing Outlook, interruptions to online meetings on Teams and difficulties using SharePoint for document management. ETH Zurich was among the institutions affected. The service problems therefore reached teaching and campus work through communication, meetings and shared files, while the effects at Nestlé and Swiss Post did not stop food production or postal delivery. The disruption presented different practical workarounds, from calling a company to waiting for access to digital tools to resume.

The federal administration reported only minor performance issues with some applications. The Swiss Confederation employs around 44,000 people, and its email service continued to work normally. That placed federal operations among the less affected services in Switzerland, despite problems at companies and universities.

Microsoft said the international disruption stemmed from server overloads and connection difficulties. It also said that, based on the information available, the incident was not caused by a cyberattack. The problems affected businesses, public administrations and private users in several countries after beginning on Thursday.

Across Switzerland, the reported consequences ranged from a delayed financial-results release to impaired email, online meetings and document access. Other essential activities continued: Nestlé’s production facilities were unaffected, and Swiss Post’s sorting and delivery of letters and parcels carried on. These varied outcomes show how the same service disruption could interrupt particular digital tasks without halting every operation within an organisation.