November 13, 2026
SIU experts: Microsoft outage shouldn’t have economic impact if resolved soon
CARBONDALE, Ill. — As Microsoft continues today (Nov. 13) to gradually restore services to millions of global users following a massive outage on Thursday, the initial impact was much greater than the inability to receive and open email.
While businesses and governments worldwide reported significant issues due to the disruption, experts at Southern Illinois University Carbondale do not believe there will be a far-reaching economic impact provided that the services return quickly.
“The outage could have decreased economic activity yesterday, but if economic activity rebounds today then the aggregate effect won't be big,” said Kevin Sylwester, a professor of economics and director of the SIU School of Analytics, Finance, and Economics. “I doubt that six months from now, we will look at macroeconomic data and see a blip in mid-November. I bet we will have forgotten about what happened yesterday as long as it is an isolated event.”
Media availability
Thomas R. Imboden, associate professor, information technology, School of Computing, can be reached at timboden@siu.edu or 618-694-1297.
Kevin Sylwester, professor of economics and director of the SIU School of Analytics, Finance, and Economics, can be contacted at ksylwest@siu.edu.
The company is reporting that progress is being made in restoring services. Numerous reports are that the outages hit 74 countries and impacted daily activities including services with banks, governments, judicial systems and online classes. The disruptions included Outlook, SharePoint, Teams, 365 and CoPilot, leaving some to communicate via telephones and in-person.
The outage shows “that even the biggest and most advanced tech companies can experience disruptions that are unforeseen and long lasting,” said Thomas R. Imboden, associate professor and program coordinator in the School of Computing.
“Often times when technology services or internet providers go down, whether from a bug, a cybersecurity incident, or something else, it leads to an analysis of how things can be done better at the service providers’ level,” Imboden said. “Sometimes those affected also really take a look and consider how much they rely on this kind of technology every day. This is especially true when the disruption significantly impacts so many people and organizations.”