Not only has Microsoft been struggling to restore full service, but on Thursday the company also shut down MSN Messenger as it restarted the network of servers that handle messaging traffic. That "reboot" failed to immediately fix the problem.
The outage, which began Tuesday, affects as many as 10 million people, or roughly one-third of MSN Messenger users. Initially, many people simply lost buddy lists of friends, but as Microsoft tackled the problem more aggressively, service collapsed completely for many of those users. MSN Messenger customers continued to report service problems Monday.
For Microsoft, the outage is a black eye as it puts more emphasis on instant messaging--and network reliability--as part of its forthcoming .Net software-as-a-service strategy, which includes an ambitious services plan called HailStorm.
The MSN Messenger outage "shows that Microsoft has some work to do before they're ready for large volumes of critical traffic," said Gartner analyst Michael Silver. "This doesn't exactly look good for .Net.
"Rebooting when there is a problem with product servers is something we see more of in small to midsize businesses," not with a large commercial service, Silver said. "With (MSN Messenger), you're talking about an architectural problem, where Microsoft is being forced to reboot their servers."
The Microsoft of today is built on one-time sales of computer software, but the company in the future wants to move into the more lucrative services market, turning its products--through .Net--into rentable services for business transactions and consumer commerce.
Microsoft is unveiling .Net in pieces and is retooling its Windows operating system and desktop applications for HailStorm, its initiative for delivering content and services to virtually any type of device, from PCs to handhelds to mobile phones. Instant messaging is one of HailStorm's most important components and one that Microsoft is shaping for the delivery of business services and information through the forthcoming Windows XP, Xbox, Stinger phone and other products.
In the HailStorm plan, Microsoft becomes the conduit for a wide range of consumer information, from addresses and schedules to credit card numbers and personal documents. The plan has come under heavy scrutiny from privacy advocates concerned that Microsoft will gain control of consumer data. Microsoft insists that HailStorm customers will "own" their data, which will be maintained in a secure repository under supervision of a third-party hosting company.
Charles Fitzgerald, Microsoft's director of business development, said earlier this year that another plan under discussion would let people host their data locally on "smart cards" to increase security. Fitzgerald also said that Microsoft has no plans to mine, sell, target or publish people's data stored in HailStorm.
But the MSN Messenger problem is the latest in a history of security and reliability problems that could make consumers less willing to trust Microsoft's HailStorm plan. The company has recently battled security problems in its Web server and email software. And it came under heavy criticism for a widespread outage of Hotmail, its free email service, earlier this year.
Some components of HailStorm have already stoked controversy, even though the service isn't expected to launch until next year. Privacy groups have criticised Microsoft's Passport authentication service, which will be a major component of HailStorm. Passport is a single sign-in service that gives consumers a key for multiple Web sites. Microsoft in April revised the "terms of use" policy for its Passport service after criticism that the agreement gave the software behemoth excessive control of customers' communications.
