In today's competitive market, having the right tools for your team to conduct thorough research and gather their thoughts and drafts quickly can make all the difference. Microsoft 365 Copilot is an invaluable resource for professionals, enabling them to gather critical information quickly and efficiently.

Who's this article for?

1. IT Managers or savvy business user’s looking to learn some more about Copilot
2. Interested in building a business case for a Copilot Proof of concept
3. Microsoft user exploring simpler ways to leverage AI in your day to ay work life

Copilot chat and M365 Copilot chat aren’t the same

Initial free Copilot searching is Copilot app (built into Windows), your interactions are open and not kept within your tenant. When considering cybersecurity or Data Governance, Microsoft 365 Copilot App (Chat) is your option.

This article helps to shed light on some things to know about each.

Why I use it everyday

Yes, there are other tools then M365 Copilot, but working in IT and with access to sensitive data, I need my tools to be safe. Over the last 6 months it’s become part of my daily work life. For distinction as this article is centred around the chat app, I will focus my experience on that, but it's not to say that other Copilots in Word, PowerPoint and Outlook aren’t equally handy. Adam has written some other articles about those if you’d like to take a short detour.

Research

Typical search prompts are related to new potential organisation or subject matter you are not an expert in. Background info or market share breakdowns are examples of things to prompt Copilot for.

Not just the web (Company IP & SharePoint / OneDrive data)

Search results from M365 chat give both answers from the web, and also from your own company. In my case I leverage a plethora of proposals, vendor documents, pricing and other technical SoW’s to form a first draft or approach to a task.

Context

The M365 chat interface allows me to save different chats based on the context which saves time again on not having to recreate the best prompt. This has become a staple on most AI tools, but it’s still a fantastic feature worth calling out, as I’ve found new users to Copilot find it very handy during the early adoption stage.

It’s free it will be fine

I’ve spoken to some clients, and the user's mindset is if “it’s free its fine” I’m not signing up to anything, so my details aren't at risk.

The reality is that free tools have a higher risk to potentially leak your company data out into a large language model that your competitors or a threat actor would love to get their hands on.

Microsoft 365 app vs. Copilot app chat

Microsoft offers two versions of Copilot chat: the free Copilot app, which is built into Windows, and the Microsoft 365 Copilot App (Chat), which requires a Copilot M365 license. The free version allows open interactions not confined within a user's tenant, making it a more accessible option. However, for those prioritising cybersecurity and data governance, the M365 Copilot App is a more secure choice.

For detailed pricing, please visit the Microsoft website: https://www.microsoft.com/en-au/microsoft-365/copilot/business 

Configuration will always need to be rolled out correctly, as this requires user groups and some infrastructure permissions to be compliant, but that’s for another article.

Pros: M365 Copilot chat

Keeps company proprietary data confidential, and M365 Copilot Chat has built-in safeguards to help ensure interactions remain within tenant.

M365 Copilot Chat inherits all your existing Microsoft 365 security and compliance requirements, so only people with the right permissions can access the content it generates. Additionally, because Copilot Chat is a core Microsoft 365 service, the data it uses resides in your geographical region.

Cons: Cost for a license

AU$47.15 excl. GST per user per month when paid monthly with an annual commitment.
It could be tricky for new budget line items for some departments or small businesses. 

Options to remember

A) Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat

An AI chat available at no additional cost with Microsoft 365. It includes web support, the latest large language models, file uploads, Copilot Pages, minimal IT controls.

Usage of this free chat is something that has often helped us in forming a business case to get the full M365 license as IT managers (depending on their infra setup) can determine how many of their users are already leveraging the free chat tool.

B) Adding a Microsoft 365 Copilot license

Copilot Chat becomes more powerful by drawing on Microsoft Graph both from web and tenant data, working directly in productivity apps, and using advanced measurement and management tools.

Proof of concepts are the best method we’ve found in helping our clients understand the value and necessary configurations in beginning to leverage this powerful new toolset from Microsoft.

If any of these items are of interest to you, would love to continue your line of thinking reach out to us here.

As a leading managed IT services company, we empower organisations to thrive in the digital landscape by providing tailored, reliable, and secure connectivity.