Microsoft has revealed a dramatic increase in the use of its Azure cloud services as most of the world continues to migrate to work from home. The computing giant says it has seen a 775% increase in the use of its cloud services in recent weeks, with Windows Virtual Desktop, Microsoft Teams, Xbox Game Pass, Xbox Live and Mixer affected. This forced Microsoft to modify Azure for the second time in a week to try to enable a smooth user experience.
Modified Team Services
According to a company blog post, the increase in usage is due to lockdowns and a move to a remote work environment due to the coronavirus pandemic. Microsoft Teams have served more than 44 million users per day and have managed more than 900 million meeting and calling minutes daily in the past week. The use of Windows Virtual Desktop would have increased more than three times. Microsoft will now "set(d) limits on free offers to prioritize capacity for existing customers" as well as cap "certain resources for new subscriptions." These quota limits can be increased by contacting the support teams if necessary. To reduce resource load, Microsoft has temporarily adjusted "non-essential capabilities like how often we check for user presence, the interval at which we display when the other party types, and video resolution" in Teams. The company has also disabled the ability to download custom gamer pics, club photos, and club backgrounds for Xbox users, and will also check for resource-intensive game updates during off-peak hours. Microsoft hopes these adjustments will help manage the increased demand without impacting the end-user experience, adding that supporting critical health and security organizations remains its top priority.