Some companies never learn. The Russian government has warned companies to switch to Russian software for years with limited success. This Russian company bought Microsoft software and now they are paying for their shortsightedness.
05/26/2023
Microsoft disables access to internal and external Ozon services
The interlocutor of Kommersant, close to Ozon, said that on May 25 Microsoft deprived Ozon employees of access to their services - Outlook, Teams, Word, Excel, etc. The source suggests that the shutdown is due to the fact that Ozon could use licenses, "purchased in a roundabout way."
“Everyone uses free analogues, I had to switch to Google Meet, Zoom, Telegram. Basically, the whole problem now revolves around the mail, which stored almost all the information. Everything is broken, and it cannot be fixed, only transferred to local servers, which is what programmers are now busy with, ”said the source of the newspaper.
In Ozon, Kommersant confirmed information about problems with access to some Microsoft services. “Access to key services has already been restored, there is no significant impact on the work of employees. For internal communication, we use other software not developed by Microsoft,” a representative of the marketplace told Kommersant. He added that services and communications for buyers, sellers and partners of Ozon were not affected by this situation: “Our key operational IT systems - warehouse management, sales management for sellers - are developed internally by the Ozon development team and work smoothly.”
Ozon also noted that the company acquired software licenses from Microsoft from an official distributor: "We understand the reasons for what happened." They also assured that they did not acquire licenses in a roundabout way.
Kommersant's interlocutor in an IT company supplying foreign software said that
Microsoft has the ability to pinpoint and disable any user of its services. “Oftentimes, a corporation can ignore small companies that use its services in a roundabout way, but it can easily shut down an organization that employs more than 10,000 people,” he says.