McDonald’s Stores Hit by Global IT Failure
McDonald’s faced a widespread IT outage on Friday, disrupting operations and online orders across several countries, including the United States, Australia, Japan, Hong Kong, and the United Kingdom.
According to Brian Rice, McDonald’s global chief information officer, the system failure occurred around 1 a.m. ET but was swiftly identified and rectified. Rice clarified that the issue stemmed from a third-party provider during a configuration change and was not the result of a cybersecurity breach.
Reports of disruptions emerged from various locations, with McDonald’s restaurants in New York, London, and other cities experiencing system failures during the early hours. Staff had to resort to manual order-taking and kitchen coordination due to the outage.
McDonald’s outlets in Japan, Australia, Hong Kong, and Taiwan also grappled with the IT glitch, leading to temporary suspensions of operations and disruptions to delivery services. McDonald’s Hong Kong and Taiwan assured customers that services were gradually being restored as the situation was investigated and repairs were underway.
The outage comes at a challenging time for McDonald’s, which has been navigating geopolitical tensions impacting its Middle East operations. Chief executive Christopher Kempczinski acknowledged the adverse effects of the regional conflict on the company’s performance, alongside challenges in Muslim-majority markets like Malaysia and Indonesia.
With McDonald’s operating over 41,800 stores globally, the IT failure underscores the vulnerability of large-scale digital systems and the operational complexities faced by multinational corporations in the digital age.
