Global Tech Outage Strikes McDonald’s Across Multiple Countries.

On Friday, McDonald’s issued an apology for a global technology outage that disrupted operations across numerous outlets, including those in Japan, the United Kingdom, and Australia.

The company clarified that the outage stemmed from a third-party technology provider and was not due to any cybersecurity breach. According to the Chicago-based company, the disruption began around 12 a.m. CDT during a configuration change and was nearly resolved approximately 12 hours later.

Brian Rice, the company’s global chief information officer, emphasized the priority placed on the reliability and stability of their technology. In a statement, he acknowledged the frustration caused by such outages, recognizing the impact on restaurant teams and customers.

McDonald’s assured stakeholders that they were addressing the issue with utmost urgency, characterizing the incident as an anomaly. They expressed gratitude for patience and extended sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Furthermore, McDonald’s clarified that the outage was unrelated to its recent transition to Google Cloud as a technology provider. In December, the company had announced a strategic partnership with Google aimed at migrating restaurant operations to the cloud, intending to enhance efficiency in tasks like kiosk ordering and staffing optimization.

According to a spokesperson from McDonald’s Holdings Company Japan, many McDonald’s restaurants in Japan ceased accepting both in-person and mobile customer orders due to the system disruption.

However, some McDonald’s locations resumed normal operations following the outage. Customers were able to place orders and receive their food at outlets in Bangkok, Milan, and London.

McDonald’s reported that its outlets in the U.K. and Ireland were fully functional again post-outage, while most restaurants in McDonald’s Australia had reopened.

With approximately 40,000 restaurants globally, McDonald’s boasts over 14,000 outlets in the United States and more than 1,400 in Canada. In Japan, the chain operates nearly 3,000 restaurants, and in Australia, it has around 1,000 outlets, as indicated on the respective regional websites.

The exact extent of the global impact of the technology outage on McDonald’s restaurants was not immediately clear. Despite requests for comment, McDonald’s did not provide any information.

Reports suggested that the outage also affected customers in Hong Kong and New Zealand, as individuals took to social media platforms to express frustration over disruptions at various restaurants.

Earlier communications from McDonald’s in Japan indicated widespread operational issues across many of their stores nationwide, attributing it to a system failure. In Hong Kong, the chain acknowledged a “computer system failure” on Facebook, stating that mobile ordering was affected and self-ordering kiosks were non-operational.

Downdetector, an outage tracking service, noted a slight increase in issues with the McDonald’s app, although this appears to have since decreased.