OK, that was actually a different problem that was occurring at the same time but not affecting the same group of users.
I know it’s really complicated but there have been overlapping problems affecting different groups of users for about a week now. 
That could give MFOP an entirely different set of words that make up the acronym 
ST is too unreliable to use it with important things like a home security system and hooking up door locks. Personally I use it in addition to my other (reliable) systems, mostly for fun.
I think Samsung had a wait and see attitude, wanting to see if this was a fade or would grow into a nice business. Reportedly they are now installed in more than 1 million homes and will do a major push this year so it seems they are starting to take it seriously.
For those who want a plug and play reliable system, the best as other mentioned would be Homeseer. It’s more expensive, I don’t know if it’s open source like ST but Homeseer is the way to go for a real and viable home automation at this time. Also it does not entirely rely on the cloud which is why it is a better solution.
I should stipulate in YESTERDAY’s outage. The one 10 days prior had me down the full 12 hours. Luckily, I had done my research on the system and knew I should have redundancy, so all those buttons just pop off the original switches and I have ewww manual lights…__
Its the Flashlight app on your phone 
Not running any BETA that I am aware of. Was able to control routines setup within the SmartThings app and programmed to Aeon Minimote buttons using the Button Controller SmartApp during this last outage. Used the remote when I could not log into the SmartThings iOS app.
What happens when you have a full power outage for 10 hours in the middle of the night and your phone battery dies cuz it only had 4% and all other available devices that you could have charged via usb have died as well.
If you have a vehicle charger then you are in luck. What if on that same night though, the battery in your vehicle decided to go completely dead? Neighbors are all out of town on a vacation / holiday. When it rains it pours.
Having a back up plan for your back up plan and then having a back up plan for that back up plan leads you back to the actual flashlight with batteries and if that flashlight dies, having candles with a lighter, and if that lighter runs out of butane, having matches available, and if you run out of matches, being able to start a fire by rubbing sticks or rocks together.
A little over the top, but point is, being prepared ahead of time for any and all situations.
If you were able to use the SmartThings App, then you were not impacted by the “last outage”. This wasn’t possible for anyone, since it was a full cloud outage … well; we were not told if all Shards were affected.
The Minimotes are, I believe, candidates for local execution, but only to control Smart Lighting. There is no control of SHM via Minimote at this time, to the best of my knowledge.
ST has been Samsung since before I got involved in it.
A million users worldwide does not equal a million sales. So three-plus years of sales averaging somewhere below 300,000 annually certainly is not a “runaway success”. It’s not bad, but compared to Echo and Google devices which have now sold tens of millions of units over a far shorter timeframe - or compared to samsung’s Phone business, which sells millions of units annually - it’s certainly not samsung’s usual playground.
I was NOT able to use the ST app DURING this last outage. Had setup the Minimotes months ago. Was prompted to purchase an extra one for alarm on/off after a previous outage for backup.
While I agree up to a point, I think this is an unfair comparison.
Over the past year in the UK there has been a big TV advertising campaign for Alexa and GH. Special offers and discounts. Phone adverts as well for the major players.
There has not been one single advert, that I have seen, for ST on TV or in any press. I only stumbled across it by Googling Home Automation and coming across the ST community forum. This peaked my interest and the rest, as they say, is history.
The Minimotes on my setup ONLY control Automation Routines. None of them individually control things for on or off purposes.
Automation Routines can control Smart Home Monitor for Armed Away, Armed Home, and Disarmed. Set up this way as a workaround when home/away/night modes were not properly updating. Each of the routines also sets the corresponding mode.
I agree it is not that much, there is hope in the tunnel since their recent CES announcement. Also it is really not user friendly so it is not ready for mass distribution yet. Even Apple Home is not ready for prime time. I think Echo and Google Home are different animals, they are just voice command interfaces, and in the case of Echo it’s a sales tool for them.
I have exactly one item in all my automations that is critical, and cloud-dependent: the Schlage BE469 Lock. And on that, the codes for my family are all in the lock… so in the event of an outage, we all can still get in the door. There is one service person who comes every other week, and ST Lock Manager (via webcore) sends the code for that person only that day and only for the few hours the person will be there. If ST is down or the cloud is hosed, that person can’t get in the house.
Fortunately, there is also a workaround for that. I have an emergency ‘burner’ code programmed directly into the lock. If the service person can’t get in, she calls my wife… who gives her that code.
I then change that code when I get home, and give my wife the new ‘burner’ code.
So far, it’s not needed to be used.
So having adequate ‘backup’ methods in place, I feel comfortable giving SmartThings a role in securing my home. No, it’s not industrial-grade security… but it’s also far more than just a toy.
PS - my codes are 8-digit. So if someone wants to stand at the door and try to run 10 million possible codes, go ahead… there’s not much here to steal anyway. That said, it would be good if the lock reported too many consecutive incorrect code attempts.
A minor point, but ST is not an open source project.
Mine does. 
However, when I’m out of town, I disable the keypad on my front door lock so that nobody can try and figure out the code. The garage door is enabled and set to 3 invalid code entries. Thats the only lock that is available for the pet sitter and if they try too many times, it disables the lock for a minute and reports in SmartThings.
Right… But to bring this back to the critical question and relevant problem…
Automation Routines cannot run locally (i.e., without “most” of the SmartThings Cloud being functional and reachable over the internet.
Therefore, during this most recent outage, there was no way (even using Minimotes) to disarm SHM. And not being able to disarm SHM) is a significant inconvenience when a household’s SHM is configured to activate upon contact sensor breach or motion sensor, and trigger sirens or other obtrusive actions, right?
If I’m incorrect, and SHM can be disarmed (and/or armed) without Cloud access… then we’re all very interested in the details!
Couldn’t resist asking…
What happens if ST has a fit and unlocks the door?
All I can tell you is my experience: I was successfully able to DISARM using the Aeon Minimote to trigger an Automation Routine during this last outage.
I believe you absolutely, but because there were overlapping problems at the same time, it does sound like you didn’t actually have a cloud outage. Instead, you had a problem where you were not able to sign in, which can feel the same in terms of inconvenience, but technically is quite different.
