How to successfully be your customers’ pilot for Copilot

Microsoft Copilot for M365 has recently been made available to organisations of every size. For managed service providers (MSPs), this is an opportune moment to deliver enhanced value by empowering customers to utilise AI. 

Drawing insights from discussions with both enterprise customers and MSPs, Chris Shaw, UK&SA Snr Distribution Manager at AvePoint, has identified three specific steps that MSPs can take to become invaluable in their clients’ Copilot journey. 

1. Lay the foundation: 

Goal setting: Copilot will span Microsoft 365 apps such as Office Apps, Outlook, and Teams. It harnesses the vast data within these applications to generate valuable insights and enhance productivity. Additionally, Microsoft 365 Copilot includes Microsoft 365 Chat, which explores data across various apps, such as emails, chats, and documents, to understand employees' roles and priorities. To unlock the full potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot, MSPs can assist companies in setting goals, identifying areas where it can provide tangible benefits, and devising strategies to achieve measurable results. 

Declutter data: While Microsoft 365 Copilot excels at assisting users with document creation and data analysis, its effectiveness relies on data being stored within Microsoft 365 applications. MSPs can add significant value by helping companies reorganise and declutter data volumes and facilitate the migration of data to Microsoft 365.  

2. AI readiness check:  

Control data visibility: Microsoft 365 Copilot ensures data privacy and security, but effective implementation requires that businesses have robust security controls in place. Lack of specific controls, especially concerning sensitive data handled by departments like finance and human resources, can lead to inadvertent data exposure. Consequently, it is vital to establish adequate data visibility controls to safeguard against unauthorised access. Because Microsoft 365 Copilotcan  pull data from various sources, you needstringent measures to ensure that only the right people have access to sensitive information. MSPs can help by enabling the necessary security controls, and providing actionable insights for their end-customers to track and set appropriate data access. 

Guiding users to do the right thing: Using AI presents a completely new way of working for most, and users need to be informed about how to use the tool without violating their organisation's policies. MSPs can help users’ navigate workspaces, and implement essential data controls across the workforce. With features such as automated permission reviews and renewals, along with the automatic and regular management of memberships across Microsoft 365 Teams and other groups and sites, MSPs can help their customers eliminate errors.  

3. Pre-rollout phase: 

Monitor data: MSPs can also help their end-customers build a solid data foundation, ensuring all their proprietary data is secure and organized. but that’s just the beginning; maintaining it is equally crucial. Employees spend considerable time searching for information, so proper data maintenance is vital to optimise productivity. In this regard, MSPs can conduct regular reviews of their customers’ data and workspaces to prevent inaccuracies in Microsoft 365 Copilot data pulls, and to keep data organised, up-to-date, and easily accessible. 

Cleared for take off! 

Microsoft 365 Copilot is gathering momentum rapidly. By actively participating in the groundwork, ensuring data security, and facilitating ongoing data maintenance, MSPs can position themselves as indispensable partners early in and throughout their customers’ journey by helping their customers fully embrace and leverage the capabilities of this AI-driven assistant.  

To find out more about how to do so, all are welcome to join our Copilot MSP workshop in London on 15 March.