Drive your Copilot journey forward faster with SoftwareOne

Preparing for Microsoft’s AI companion is like owning your first car

Microsoft 365 Copilot has been dubbed "the most powerful productivity tool on the planet" by Microsoft. A lofty statement considering the strides myriad artificial intelligence solutions have made of late. But that hasn’t stopped organizations from dreaming of an AI-driven world of productivity gains, creativity, readily accessible insights, and more time to focus on what’s important.

It’s anticipation and excitement on a par with the prospect of owning your first car – the freedom to travel under your own steam and the opportunity to visit new places. The thrill of going further and faster than previously possible.

Yet, with Microsoft AI capable of teaching students English, overcoming the biggest healthcare challenges, or even helping match foster families with children, a simple car is an inadequate analogy for such a massive opportunity. Microsoft Copilot is expected to increase organizational productivity by anywhere from 30 to 80%.

Unlike previous technological advancements, this seemingly impossible mix of performance and transformational capabilities puts it firmly in the supercar category. While a standard car might get you from A to B, Copilot’s vehicle of the future will require a new alphabet.

With great power comes great responsibility

Like a performance automobile, leveraging Copilot isn’t as simple as turning a key and driving away. A process must be followed to ensure your organization is ready for the technology and capable of harnessing its full potential in the safest way.

In this eBook, we take a closer look at what you should consider and the steps to take before getting behind the wheel. From stakeholder buy-in and technical readiness to data privacy and end-user adoption, we’ll outline the most effective route to a successful Copilot implementation, plus where that journey could take your business.

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Copilot will be just as effective at boosting the productivity of IT personnel as it will any other arm of the business.

Sell Copilot’s business benefit

Many first driving experiences begin with convincing parents of the advantages. They’ll no longer be the taxi ferrying you from one point to another. With a car and a license, you now become the chauffeur. Where Copilot and your business are concerned, it’s IT stakeholders who must be persuaded.

In the same way business cases are made for new platforms and systems, Copilot’s long-term benefits for IT teams and the wider organization must be conveyed effectively.

Copilot will be just as effective at boosting the productivity of IT personnel as it will any other arm of the business. Furthermore, the technology foundations required could unlock new levels of flexibility and opportunity that IT teams will now have more time to benefit from. It’s a win-win for the business and them.

With IT on board, your Copilot implementation can move forward with less friction and more easily align with existing business objectives. Crucially, it will also provide you with access to a knowledgeable ally, well-versed in the intricacies of your estate and equipped to answer key questions as the implementation progresses.

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Lay the foundation for change

The road on which your Copilot supercar drives must be Microsoft Azure. This exclusive association is crucial and, for those not already using Microsoft’s cloud platform, will require careful planning.

The benefits of migrating workloads to the cloud are well known and, if Copilot is your target, now is the time to invest in Azure. Not only will it provide you with access to the AI companion your business craves, but it will also help enhance reliability and security, as well as potentially reduce ongoing costs.

With this solid foundation in place, it won’t just be Copilot that opens up new opportunities for your business; you’ll also unlock new levels of agility and innovation through powerful cloud-based infrastructure that helps to future-proof your organization.

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Preparing for Copilot should involve an assessment of your current licensing agreements.

Understand costs & commitments

To drive a car, you need a license.

Preparing for Copilot should, therefore, involve an assessment of your current licensing agreements to identify areas where costs can be reduced, or existing investments can become more efficient. Working with a trusted partner can be highly beneficial in this area, especially when it comes to optimizing license and cloud costs.

You should also identify Copilot use cases specific to your business and align them with roles that will see the most benefit. Combined, these two steps will provide you with a more accurate total cost of ownership projection while also helping to direct your investment to the areas of greatest business impact.

Two business people looking at a tablet in an office.

Get your data in order

Your company’s data is the lifeblood of Microsoft Copilot, and ensuring it’s clean and organized is of paramount importance to achieve the best possible results.

You get out what you put in and, like those first terrifying trips to the gas station, using the wrong type of fuel could limit Copilot’s performance or, even worse, bring it to a sputtering stop.

Ensuring your data is stored, managed, and categorized effectively is essential to make the most of Copilot and prevent inadvertent access to sensitive information.

While Copilot provides the same level of access to data as the user using it, they may not realize the full scope of their access or the access they provide to their colleagues.

Crucial Copilot adoption steps should include revoking obsolete permissions, identifying and protecting sensitive data, and monitoring for any anomalies and potential liabilities.

By applying data access controls and closely scrutinizing data privacy compliance at an early stage, you can achieve peace of mind that your sensitive information and your business are protected as you embark on your data-fuelled AI journey.

However, if this feels like it could be a step too far for your in-house teams, you can enlist the expertise of data specialists to help safely accelerate your progress. With experienced support across the tagging and governance practices applied to your data, you can ensure security challenges are avoided while also improving Copilot’s effectiveness.

The importance of this step should not be overlooked, as it will enable users to enjoy the full benefit of Copilot from the outset, strengthening adoption and safeguarding its ongoing value across your organization.

Example

Copilot pros and data protection cons

The benefits of Microsoft Copilot are numerous, but without appropriate data protection and tagging, its ground-breaking capabilities could quickly become troublesome.

Take, for example, a user within your organization looking to quickly generate a quarterly report in Microsoft Word. From a simple prompt, Copilot sets to work, sourcing data from an extensive array of sources, including PowerPoint decks, Excel spreadsheets, text documents, and more. Neatly structured details covering the preceding three months of company performance are displayed in a matter of seconds.

However, without appropriate permissions or data tagging in place, that report could contain sensitive company strategy plans or confidential HR information not meant for the user’s consumption, let alone presented to the organization at large.

An experienced partner for your Copilot journey

Organizations like yours are rightfully excited about Copilot’s potential to transform daily routines and deliver unprecedented productivity gains. However, as this eBook outlines, appropriate preparation will be key to a seamless implementation.

With a long-standing global relationship with Microsoft, SoftwareOne is one of only a few Microsoft partners worldwide with Azure Expert MSP status.

With services spanning Microsoft’s three clouds – Microsoft 365, Azure, and Dynamics – as well as a track record of over 300 successful Applied AI projects, we are uniquely placed to help your organization adopt and utilize Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Whatever your organization’s level of IT maturity, SoftwareOne can guide you through the intricacies of Copilot implementation. Through thoughtful, experience-led planning and technical expertise, we support you on your journey and can even help offset a portion of your investment in Copilot through optimization of your existing license and cloud costs.

We are steadfast in our commitment to responsible AI practices and adhere rigorously to the core principles of cloud security, ensuring robust information and data protection.

Across Advisory, technical readiness, and adoption and change management, we can support you in achieving a safe and functional environment combined with end-user engagement to ensure optimal security and efficiency of your Copilot implementation.

And we won’t just set you up and walk away. Following successful Copilot adoption, our Copilot Customization Services can extend the value of Copilot for your business, tailoring it to meet your specific needs and taking your productivity benefits even further.

For as little as half the cost of running Copilot for a month, your organization could accelerate its journey to AI-powered productivity.

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Boost your readiness for the future of AI.

Navigating the transformative power of Microsoft 365 Copilot can be as exhilarating as it is challenging. With its immense potential to redefine your organizational productivity landscape, it's essential to have a clear, actionable plan in place. Imagine being equipped with a step-by-step guide, tailor-made for your business, ensuring you capture every ounce of value Microsoft Copilot has to offer.

SoftwareOne's one-day workshop offers precisely this – a comprehensive, hands-on session designed to assess your readiness, identify opportunities, and carve out a roadmap for Copilot implementation success. But our commitment doesn't end there. With specialized services ranging from technical readiness to adoption management and extensibility, SoftwareOne stands by your side, ensuring every facet of your Copilot journey is optimized.

Don't let the potential of Copilot slip through your fingers. Book your workshop with SoftwareOne today and transform your organization's productivity narrative.

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