How You Can Prepare for Microsoft Copilot

With AI hype reaching fever pitch and expectations for Microsoft Copilot skyrocketing, the reality may end up falling short of organizations' hopes, especially if they don't have the prerequisites in place for Copilot to function effectively.

According to Microsoft, Copilot “combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with your data in the Microsoft Graph and the Microsoft 365 apps to turn your words into the most powerful productivity tool on the planet.” The most powerful productivity tool on the planet … nothing less. Copilot will “unleash creativity” by auto-generating first drafts of documents, “unlock productivity” by lightening the load from email, meetings and repetitive tasks, and “uplevel skills” by helping you “quickly master what you’ve yet to learn.”

No wonder expectations are off the charts.

How You Can Prepare for Copilot

Copilot might be groundbreaking, but it’s not magic. Because it orchestrates between large language models (LLMs), Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft Graph, Copilot depends on having accurate and comprehensive information about your environment to work well.

So to reap the benefits of Copilot, you need to first prepare your business. Microsoft states you need to own or obtain enterprise licenses (E3 or E5) for your Microsoft 365 tenants and the necessary Microsoft cloud apps and services before launching Copilot. You then need to buy and provision Copilot licenses (when they're available) to the first groups and users.

That part's easy. Now comes the heavy lifting. Before launching Copilot, you should:

Lock down access to documents and other Microsoft 365 resources, such as Teams conversations, channels and calendars, by implementing Microsoft's recommended "just enough access" permissions. Given the lax approach many organizations have traditionally taken towards access control, this step is critical. That lax approach worked before because it was difficult to stumble upon sensitive documents without prior knowledge. However, with the enhanced capabilities of the Microsoft Graph, these documents can now surface during searches or with discovery tools like (the now out of favor) Delve. Copilot escalates the issue with its extensive reach into the organization's knowledge base. To ensure individuals only view what they are authorized to see, organizations must prioritize access control.
Classify documents using metadata. Copilot's performance requires a comprehensive understanding of the context surrounding unstructured data, such as documents. This entails assigning accurate and complete metadata to each document. For example, by classifying contracts and work plans based on customer, project name and industry, Copilot can better understand the document's contents. Copilot's recommendations will be that much better as a result.
Develop an adoption strategy. No matter how ‘easy’ Copilot will be, getting the maximum value out of the offering will require a strategy for educating the workforce about how to use Copilot. All the usual best practice recommendations for technology adoption apply. Employees should also be directed on how to classify their documents for Copilot as part of the rollout.

The Time to Start Preparing Is Today

Copilot is coming soon, so start your preparations today. A good first step is checking and validating access control policies. While you're at it, audit and update your retention, sensitivity and data loss prevention (DLP) policies as well. Next, develop a practical strategy for classifying your important documents. This is a herculean task, but luckily there are pragmatic approaches and effective tools to help, some of which I will cover in a future article.

Lastly, you will need to develop a rollout plan. Select the first teams to get Copilot and define goals and metrics. Start educating those teams and establish your centers of excellence.

The good news is you still have time. Copilot is currently only available to a limited number of customers, and details like final pricing are still unknown. You have a lot of hard work ahead, so the time to start is today.

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