Validation? That comes after deployment
Do you test in production? Microsoft rolled back a configuration change after it prevented some users from loading SharePoint Online sites and pages.
Microsoft tracked the incident as SP1472983. Between 1604 and 1730 GMT on September 16, affected users were unable to load SharePoint Online sites or pages and instead received the error message: "Sorry, something went wrong: Thread was being aborted."
Microsoft blamed a configuration change affecting how its servers deliver code used to render SharePoint pages.
Microsoft reverted the change and said its service telemetry confirmed that the problem had been resolved. It added: "We're further assessing the process by which we validate and deploy configuration changes to ensure future rollouts don't result in similar impact."
This is not the first time a configuration change has borked Microsoft's cloud services. An Azure wobble earlier this year rippled through dependent services, while a Microsoft 365 configuration change caused a chunk of the productivity cloud to tumble back down to Earth. In 2025, another change caused problems for users accessing Exchange Online through Outlook on the web.
At the time, a Microsoft spokesperson told us: "We are working to enhance our detection of similar events and reduce the time needed to identify, mitigate, or prevent such impacts."
Microsoft has not yet responded to our latest request for further detail. It said a preliminary post-incident report will be available within two business days, followed by a final report within five.
Spotting problems quickly is only part of operating a business-critical service. Preventing faulty changes from reaching production also matters.
The recurring failures suggest Microsoft has yet to get to grips with quality control across its cloud and infrastructure – much as Windows Update continues to produce a parade of problems that should have been caught before release. ®