Copilot for Microsoft 365 - Security and Readiness Assessment

Copilot for Microsoft 365 presents a huge opportunity to transform work and unlock productivity, but also brings risks from company sensitive information being exposed in new and unintended ways. The vital first step is to understand and remediate data risk – identifying where sensitive information is stored and where sharing practices and permissions leave data exposed, providing the foundation for information protection measures which allow Copilot to be safely deployed.

We’ve been involved with Copilot for Microsoft 365 since the beginning - building insights, providing feedback, and gaining an understanding of the critical factors as part of Microsoft’s limited Early Access Program. We have the expertise to put your Copilot journey on the right track.

Copilot for Microsoft 365 is at the heart of the new AI era - helping employees produce high-quality work in significantly less time, fixing the problem of inefficient meetings, and solving the information overload and search challenges faced in most organisations today. As the world increasingly understands the powers of generative AI, employee expectations are rising – providing access to tools which increase productivity and reduce time spent on low-value activities is a growing part of the employer proposition for forward-thinking organisations. With 68% of people reporting they don’t have enough focus time and 62% saying they spend far too much time searching for information, it’s clear that AI has a vital role in removing barriers to productivity.

However, Copilot for Microsoft 365 can shine a light on poor information governance with potentially severe consequences. It’s ability to return answers from any file in Microsoft 365 that the user has access to means that data security now becomes paramount – but the uncomfortable truth for most organisations is that content oversharing is prevalent and no-one truly knows where sensitive data is held or being created.

With early exposure to Copilot and a long heritage in SharePoint information management solutions stretching back to 2005, Advania UK have the expertise de-risk your Copilot deployment. Our Copilot for Microsoft 365 readiness assessment is a fixed-price engagement which combines our industry-leading expertise with intelligent use of Microsoft Purview, SharePoint Premium (for E5-licensed organisations) and custom tooling we created to ensure full coverage. We can work with organisations licensed with Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 licenses via an adaptive approach to tooling.

Our four-step methodology is:

• Prepare
  • Prepare the environment for audit
  • Establish current licensing relevant to Microsoft information protection tools
  • Determine audit tooling approach based on E3/E5/Purview licensing and environmental factors
• Assess
  • Identify sensitive data using our established Microsoft Purview approaches
  • Identify overshared content using SharePoint Premium tools (for E5 customers) and custom scripts and tools (for E3 and E5 customers)
  • Establish where sensitive data may be overshared
• Report
  • Generation of data exposure report – covering sensitive data types, locations, and instances of oversharing
  • Generation of summary report – covering Copilot risks and required steps before launch
• Prime
  • Playback of findings
  • Establish remediation approach for data governance issues
  • Arm stakeholders with a clear roadmap for launching Copilot for Microsoft 365

Our engagement provides a prescriptive approach with well-defined outputs based on our in-depth knowledge of Copilot for Microsoft 365 and data security in Microsoft 365. If required, our expert team can provide continued support through a remediation phase, or you can simply take the outputs and proceed with your in-house team. With either approach, you’ll have the springboard for deploying Copilot for Microsoft 365 safely.

Why choose Advania?

• We’ve been involved with Copilot for Microsoft 365 from the start, having worked with Microsoft in the Early Access Programme (one of the few organisations globally)
• We have custom tools specifically developed to supplement Microsoft Purview in identifying Copilot risk
• We have a full range of Copilot for Microsoft 365 services - from business case development, custom integrations and plugin development, through to Adoption & Change Management services
• We have “Preferred” status in Microsoft’s Content AI Partner Programme – giving us early access to new features and roadmap info (1 of 20 globally)