3 Things to Consider Before You Enable Copilot for Microsoft 365

In today’s digital landscape, any productivity tool that streamlines workflow and boosts performance is a pleasant addition.

With its AI-powered productivity-enhancing capabilities, Microsoft Copilot has emerged as a game-changer for employees, particularly for organizations using Microsoft 365.

But before you hit the enable button and dive headfirst into Copilot’s world, it’s crucial to consider some factors. When integrated with Micorosft 365, Copilot deployment demands some solid tenant readiness evaluation and permission setup.

This blog post delves into the top 3 key considerations, focusing on navigating the permission landscape. We’ll explore how Copilot interacts with your data, the potential security implications, and strategies for ensuring responsible use.

By understanding these factors, you can efficiently harness the power of Copilot for Microsoft 365.

3 Things to Consider Before You Enable Microsoft Copilot

While Copilot can boost productivity, it’s not a magic bullet. Before you start using it with Microsoft 365, here are 3 key considerations.

1. Streamlining Microsoft 365 Label Management

Sensitivity labels in Microsoft 365 protect data. With the addition of auto-labelling, users no longer need to label the data manually since the feature applies the labelling policies automatically.

However, all content authored by Copilot should be reviewed to ensure it follows the prescribed labelling guidelines and safeguards data.

2. Best Practices for Data Protection

Effective data protection includes, but is not limited to:

• Access assignments on a need-to-know basis,
• Application of the least privilege principle,
• Data categorized by its sensitivity,
• Access Control Lists (ACLs),
• User identity authentication,
• And data encryption.

You also need to keep detailed activity logs and do data segmentation and periodic access reviews that are excessive and unnecessary.

Clear access and data guidelines should be set to be enforced and communicated to all parties involved.

3. Prerequisites To Deploy Microsoft Copilot Include:

• Microsoft Azure subscription
• Entra IDAccount
• OneDrive for the storage of data
• Updated Outlook for both Windows and Mac
• A properly configured MS Teams
• Activated “Loop Function” in your Microsoft tenant
• Adherence to Best Practices of the Network
• Microsoft 365 application
• Additionally, with Copilot in use, an add-on license is available only with Microsoft 365 Business Premium and M365 Business Standard.

Let’s understand these 3 Copilot Considerations in detail…

1. Streamlining Office Label Management

A Deep Dive into Copilot’s Impact on M365 Labels…

Perhaps the most prominent way Microsoft Copilot integrates into Microsoft 365 applications—like Word and Excel—is by driving massive gains in workflow efficiency.

The ease it brings with auto labelling is just incomparable. But, there are some security concerns as well.

Let’s dive deeper into what benefits this auto labelling can provide and what considerations are needed.

Technical Underpinnings of Auto-Labelling

Machine learning: Copilot’s auto-labeling is based on machine learning algorithms trained over huge sets of labeled documents.

This is achieved through ML algorithms, which scan the content of documents to find keywords, phrases, and patterns that match certain sensitivity levels.

Sensitivity Policies: Microsoft 365 enables an organization to establish sensitivity policies. The policy states the criteria under which content in the document is to be classified.

For example, “Confidential,” “Internal,” and “Public.”

When these policies exist, Copilot assigns the correct label automatically.

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