IBM Cloud experienced a datacenter outage caused by a fire incident, resulting in service disruptions for customers using that facility. The outage affected cloud services and infrastructure hosted in the impacted datacenter for approximately 3.9 hours. The incident was classified as minor and has been resolved.
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MITIGATING - Access to customer resources has been restored in two of the three server rooms within the data center. Customer resources located in the remaining room are still being migrated to an alternate powered room. Restoration of access to these remaining resources is expected to occur on a rolling basis through 15th May 2026. Customers can track the availability of their resources through the Cloud portal. https://cloud.ibm.com/gen1/infrastructure/devices.
What happened?
Starting at 06:33 UTC on 7th May 2026, a fire occurred at an Amsterdam data center facility (AMS03) operated by an independent provider (NorthC), hosting some of our IBM Cloud infrastructure. Due to the fire and the resulting power loss, all equipment and servers in this facility went offline, resulting in loss of access to IBM Cloud Services operating out of this facility.
NorthC’s emergency response teams are working to restore power to the facility and essential services.
In parallel, IBM is moving equipment into server rooms with restored access to power. IBM is working with clients on system restoration, honoring the requests of clients who informed IBM by 12th May 2026, 17:30 UTC to hold on restoring environments to their previous status. For clients that did not respond, IBM will proceed with restoring their environments to a pre‑outage state, to the extent possible. If you are a client and would like to engage IBM Cloud Support (Support center, https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/supportcenter), please update the current case, or open a request via the Cloud Support Center with your restoration preference.
Common questions:
Q: Is this an IBM-owned data center?
A: No. This facility is owned by third party provider, NorthC. IBM is one of the tenants in this facility.
Q: When will my services be restored?
A: Due to the severe nature of the fire, restoration of services requires IBM to move equipment to alternate server rooms in the facility and reconfigure the control plane. Teams are working 24 hours a day on restoration, and we will provide updates as they become available. IBM Cloud expects a subset of services to be restored on or before 14th May 2026. While currently in progress, additional time will be required to complete the migration of equipment from one room that is still without power, to alternate rooms within the facility.
Q: How will IBM recover my services?
A: IBM is working with clients on an individual basis on system restoration, honoring the requests of clients who informed IBM by 12th May 2026, 17:30 UTC to hold on restoring environments to their previous status. For clients that did not respond, IBM will proceed with restoring their environments to a pre‑outage state, to the extent possible
If you are a client and would like to engage IBM Cloud Support (Support center, https://cloud.ibm.com/unifiedsupport/supportcenter), please update the current case, or open a request via the Cloud Support Center with your restoration preference.
Q: Was the fire caused by malicious activities?
A: NorthC, the facility provider, has indicated the fire was not caused by malicious activities.
Q: Do we know what caused the fire?
A: The facility provider (NorthC) will undertake a full root cause analysis once restoration activities are complete. IBM will provide additional details as they become available. We are actively engaging with the facility provider to prioritize their root cause investigation.
Q: Where is the recovery status for Software offerings, specifically Planning Analytics and Controller posted?
A: For further details on Software DR recovery activities covering Planning Analytics and Controller:
- https://status.ai-apps-comms.ibm.com/planninganalytics
- https://status.ai-apps-comms.ibm.com/controller
PRIOR STATUS
MITIGATING - Access to customer resources in two out of the three server rooms within the data center has been restored. The customer resources from the remaining room continue to be migrated to an alternate room with power. We expect to restore access to these remaining resources on a rolling basis now through 15th May 2026. Customers can monitor the availability of their resources via the Cloud portal https://cloud.ibm.com/gen1/infrastructure/devices.
MITIGATING - Access to customer resources in two out of the three server rooms within the data center has been fully restored. The customer resources from the remaining room are being migrated to an alternate room with power. We expect to restore access to these remaining resources on a rolling basis on or before 15th May 2026. Customers can monitor the availability of their resources via the Cloud portal - https://cloud.ibm.com/gen1/infrastructure/devices.
Reminder: For updates regarding the Planning Analytics and Controller Software offerings, please refer to:
- https://status.ai-apps-comms.ibm.com/planninganalytics
- https://status.ai-apps-comms.ibm.com/controller
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