The Microsoft logo is seen at their offices in BucharestBOGDAN CRISTEL/Reuters
Key components of Microsoft Corp.'s Azure cloud-computing service are currently unavailable for users around the globe.
The world's biggest software maker said today that Azure, which lets businesses access computing resources and run programs via the Internet, is undergoing a service interruption in at least six of its major components in multiple data centers around the world.
Azure, which competes against rival businesses from Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., also experienced some outages in August. It's unusual for cloud outages to affect more than one data center at once, and this is Microsoft's most severe Azure interruption since some storage tools went offline in February 2013.
"We are aware of an interruption with Azure services, including Virtual Machines, Cloud Services, Websites, and Automation, and are working with our engineering team to resolve the issue as quickly as possible," Kristi Lewandowski, a spokeswoman for Redmond, Washington-based Microsoft, said in an e-mailed statement.