Microsoft 365 Copilot Licensing
Microsoft has stated that to use Copilot, enterprise users will need either Microsoft 365 E3 or Microsoft 365 E5 licenses. Small and medium-sized business customers can also use Copilot, but they must have Microsoft 365 Business Standard or Business Premium licenses. However, it is important to note that being eligible for Copilot does not mean it is free – the cost is not specified. Additionally, Microsoft has clarified that Copilot users must have an Azure AD account and use either the Current Channel or the Monthly Enterprise Channel for their Office subscription apps. It is uncertain if all Microsoft 365 users are required to have an Azure AD account, but that is the information provided.
Moving from Office 365 E3, which costs $23 per month, to Microsoft 365 E3, which costs $36 per month, is a significant increase in cost. However, it allows access to new features that haven’t been proven to be valuable yet. For a 10,000-user organization, this upgrade would result in an additional annual payment of $1.5 million to Microsoft, not including any additional expenses. This may seem like a large investment considering the benefits are mainly improved email writing and assistance in creating progress reports.
Even though Microsoft has not explicitly confirmed their plans to create a Copilot add-on for other licenses, I wouldn’t be surprised if they eventually do so in order to boost sales of Copilot among their existing customers. We will have a better understanding of the actual expenses involved in implementing Microsoft 365 Copilot once the software becomes available for public preview.
The technical requirements for Microsoft 365 Copilot are outlined below.
Microsoft advises Copilot customers to prioritize their network reliability. It is difficult for me to comprehend that any organization planning to utilize a service like Copilot, which heavily relies on quick access to platforms such as Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, and OneDrive for Business through Graph API requests, has not already ensured that their network is optimized for Microsoft 365 access. In the instance that network optimization has been neglected, Microsoft offers guidance on directing network traffic to their datacenter network. Once the data reaches the datacenter, it is transported to its destination through dark fiber.
Using Copilot offline is not possible as it requires access to Azure services. While you can store a lot of data locally with OneDrive sync client, it does not enable offline functionality for Copilot.
Microsoft emphasizes the necessity of having WebSocket connections and highlights that customers will need to enable plug-ins for Teams. This indicates that organizations will have to enable a Copilot app specifically for Teams as part of the application policies.
Currently in the development of Microsoft 365/Office 365, the guidance provided is regarded as general and uncontroversial. However, the noteworthy information can be found on the Getting Started with Microsoft 365 Copilot page, where it is revealed that to ensure smooth integration of Microsoft 365 Copilot with Outlook, it is necessary to utilize the new Outlook for Windows, which is currently being tested. This means that the existing versions of Outlook for desktop will not be equipped with Copilot. Instead, Microsoft intends to utilize Copilot to facilitate the implementation of the Outlook Monarch client.
Microsoft can defend this strategy by explaining that their focus in developing Outlook is on Monarch and it would be impractical for them to allocate resources to bring Copilot for Windows 365 to the older Outlook desktop version. However, this overlooks the fact that many corporate users, who are likely to use Copilot, heavily rely on the Outlook desktop version. Additionally, this conflicts with the statement made in the Microsoft Technical Community post that Copilot requires Microsoft 365 apps, unless Monarch (which is still in its preview stage) is included in that category.
Regarding Teams, Copilot is compatible with both the previous and current 2.1 client versions. Even though this may appear contradictory, I believe the changeover from the old Teams client to the new one will be quicker compared to the progress made so far with Outlook.
Oversharing
Maybe considering the aftermath of the Delve app’s introduction, where numerous organizations realized that the sharing controls for SharePoint Online sites were not as effective as expected, Microsoft advises potential Copilot customers to be cautious about over-sharing.
In order to provide assistance, Microsoft indicates a few recent updates for SharePoint Online. One of these updates is the Syntex-SharePoint Advanced management license, which allows for features such as limiting access to a SharePoint site to specific group members. However, certain mentioned functionalities will not be available until the latter half of 2023.
The main idea is that Copilot for Microsoft 365 assumes it can utilize any information available to the user in OneDrive for Business and SharePoint Online to effectively respond to user requests. This is generally acceptable, but issues may arise if Copilot unintentionally reveals sensitive information in its response to the user.
It is the user’s responsibility to verify the accuracy and usefulness of the information generated by Copilot, as artificial intelligence can sometimes make errors referred to as “hallucinations”. Sensitive information may not be suitable for use. However, individuals may become complacent and rely too heavily on artificial intelligence, accepting whatever Copilot generates without careful consideration. If this content is shared excessively, who should be held accountable? While in fairness, the blame should rest with the user, they may instead blame the technology.
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