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# Microsoft outage could cost Australian firms billions
- URL: https://www.bushletter.com/microsoft-outage-could-cost-australian-firms-billions/
- Published: 2026-11-13T23:30:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-11-13T23:29:59.000Z
- Description: Risk adviser Ashwin Pal warns that clearing work backlogs will add to the damage, with small businesses least able to absorb the hit.
- Author: Bushletter Newsroom
- Tags: Business, Technology, Australia

TLDR

Friday's Microsoft Outlook outage is expected to cost Australian businesses billions of dollars, with RSM Australia's Ashwin Pal warning the backlog-clearing phase will push total losses higher than the initial downtime alone. Business groups say the incident exposes dangerous over-reliance on a single digital provider.

## The price tag

Friday's Microsoft Outlook outage will cost Australian businesses billions of dollars, according to RSM Australia Risk Advisory partner Ashwin Pal.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) Pal said the final bill would be driven as much by the effort to clear work backlogs after systems recovered as by the initial downtime itself.

"It's billions of dollars. And don't forget, it's actually going to get worse," Pal said.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) "It's not just the initial downtime, it's more actually about then the catch up effort because that costs money."

## Which firms lose most

Pal said professional-services firms such as law and accounting practices could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour when staff cannot use email and core Microsoft collaboration tools.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) Those businesses charge by time, so every hour without access to client communications translates directly to lost revenue.

Smaller businesses carry the greatest survival risk.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) Pal said thinner margins and fewer fallback systems leave some firms exposed to losses that stretch well beyond the outage window, with unanswered customer queries and delayed transactions compounding the cash-flow pressure through the recovery period.

## What business groups say

Australian Industry Group chief executive Innes Willox said the outage would weigh on productivity, with the principal costs flowing through disrupted communication, delayed work and lost opportunities.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) "It's a reminder that businesses need to have backup plans in place, contingency plans for outages," Willox said.

Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry representative Liam Jones said businesses would reassess their technology providers in the wake of the incident.[\[1\]](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com) "Businesses are constantly assessing which providers are going to give them the security and the reliability that they need. So I'm sure that there will be businesses out there looking at this," Jones said. Both responses pointed to the same underlying concern: the Australian economy's growing dependence on a small number of digital platforms leaves businesses with limited room to absorb a failure of this scale.

## What Microsoft says caused it

Microsoft said on its status page that part of its infrastructure was under elevated load across multiple regions because servers were failing automated health checks and becoming unavailable.[\[2\]](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/11/microsoft-blames-failed-server-health-checks-not-hackers-for-global-outage/?ref=bushletter.com) Microsoft said it had no evidence of malicious activity and promised a full report on the root cause once the incident was over.

CrowdStrike's own root-cause analysis found that a content-configuration update to its Windows sensor caused systems to crash across the globe in July 2024, making a direct comparison with Friday's outage imperfect.[\[3\]](https://www.crowdstrike.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Channel-File-291-Incident-Root-Cause-Analysis-08.06.2024.pdf?ref=bushletter.com) Microsoft's 2026 incident involved server availability and traffic-management pressure, with the precise trigger still under investigation as of Friday.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

01RSM Australia's Ashwin Pal put the cost to Australian businesses in the billions, citing backlog catch-up costs.

02Professional-services firms can lose hundreds of thousands of dollars an hour when email and collaboration tools fail.

03Smaller businesses face the sharpest exposure, with thinner margins and fewer fallback systems than larger rivals.

04Microsoft said servers were failing health checks and becoming unavailable, and that it had no evidence of malicious activity.

05Unlike the 2024 CrowdStrike crash, Microsoft's failure involved server availability and traffic-management pressure, not a flawed software update.

SOURCES & CITATIONS

1. [Microsoft Outlook outage cost to Australian businesses, ABC News](https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-11-13/microsoft-outlook-outage-cost-to-businesses/107381570?ref=bushletter.com)
2. [Ars Technica: Microsoft blames failed server health checks for global outage](https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2026/11/microsoft-blames-failed-server-health-checks-not-hackers-for-global-outage/?ref=bushletter.com)
3. [CrowdStrike Channel File 291 Incident Root Cause Analysis](https://www.crowdstrike.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/08/Channel-File-291-Incident-Root-Cause-Analysis-08.06.2024.pdf?ref=bushletter.com)
4. [Ashwin Pal, RSM Australia people profile](https://www.rsm.global/australia/australia/people/ashwin-pal?ref=bushletter.com)

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

How much could the Microsoft outage cost Australian businesses?

RSM Australia Risk Advisory partner Ashwin Pal estimated the total cost would run into the billions of dollars, factoring in both the immediate loss of output and the labour required to clear backlogs after systems recover.

Which businesses are most at risk from the Microsoft outage?

Professional-services firms such as law and accounting practices face the largest hourly losses. Smaller businesses carry the greatest survival risk because they operate on thinner margins and typically have fewer backup systems.

How does this outage differ from the 2024 CrowdStrike incident?

CrowdStrike's 2024 outage was caused by a flawed content-configuration update that crashed Windows systems. Microsoft's 2026 failure involved servers becoming unexpectedly unavailable and traffic-management pressure, with the final cause still under investigation.

Did Microsoft confirm whether the outage was a cyberattack?

Microsoft's public service-health page said it had no evidence of malicious activity, though a full root-cause determination had not been made public by Friday.