Copyright birminghammail
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has reported a major outage impacting online services, igniting fears it will have “major implications for businesses”. Everyone from small businesses to major banks is feeling the impact, with Lloyds and Halifax also reporting disruptions to their online services. Small business owners said they are "heavily reliant" on AWS and it will have a “significant impact”. Read more: Exact date households in England and Wales to get £150 energy bills letter HMRC, Xero, Canva and Klaviyo are also affected, customers are reporting, along with Amazon, Alexa, Snapchat, and Fortnite. AWS, which is part of the retail giant Amazon, said in an update on its status page there it is suffering from "increased error rates and latencies" for multiple services. In a statement on its website, it said: "We are actively engaged and working to both mitigate the issue and understand the root cause." Natalie Ormond, Owner at Smallkind , said her small business is reliant on AWS. She said: "Canva and Klaviyo are also down. As a company of one in e-commerce I’m heavily reliant on tools like these for design, email marketing and all sorts of essential tasks. I couldn’t run my business alone without them. “They’re fantastic for small businesses but when they don’t work it’s a bit scary. It’s a good reminder to plan ahead and have a back up option. "Especially at this time of year in retail. I guess I should have written my email newsletter on Friday after all.” Dr Marianne Trent, Clinical Psychologist at Good Thinking Psychological Services , said: "It's not a great day to be a small business owner who was planning to do some Canva designs and Invoicing and Reconciliations on Xero as both platforms are down and causing me headaches. "It is frustrating when paying monthly premiums and expecting to be able to work on important business tasks when you then can't do that. "It's a modern world problem I know but it doesn't make it any less annoying and we shouldn't invalidate ourselves by just putting up with it and not acknowledging the frustration it causes. "We must also remember then when banking apps are down it can have a big and significant impact on processes big and small from buying groceries, paying bills and even buying cars and houses."
