Microsoft is the most recent firm to unveil enhanced synthetic intelligence (AI) choices to its clients. Rolling out this fall, Microsoft Copilot is an AI help characteristic designed for Microsoft 365 purposes and companies, Edge and Home windows. The instrument leverages the superior capabilities of OpenAI’s GPT-4 giant language fashions.

Given Copilot’s capability to streamline tedious duties, many companies might contemplate transferring to Microsoft 365 to reap the benefits of this AI companion operate. Earlier than doing so, nevertheless, their IT groups and MSPs should consider their present programs and put together for the intensive migration forward of them.

Let’s take a better have a look at the advantages of Microsoft Copilot and what IT groups ought to concentrate on earlier than transferring to Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Copilot and its advantages

As talked about above, Microsoft Copilot leverages the superior capabilities of OpenAI’s GPT-4 giant language fashions. As an AI assistant for Microsoft customers, the principle objective of the instrument is to assist streamline day by day duties and create time-saving shortcuts in Microsoft’s purposes.

In Home windows, Microsoft Copilot permits customers to create sooner, full duties with ease and reduce the cognitive load, making once-complicated duties easier. For instance, within the new Outlook for Home windows, customers can join and coordinate varied accounts comparable to Gmail, Yahoo! and iCloud in a single software. Copilot’s clever instruments then assist customers write clear, concise emails and seamlessly connect necessary paperwork and pictures from OneDrive, making your entire course of simpler.

As well as, Microsoft has launched a modernized File Explorer dwelling, tackle bar and search field, all of that are designed to assist customers extra simply entry necessary and related content material, keep updated with file exercise, and collaborate with out even opening a file.

In the end, Microsoft Copilot is designed to make these time-consuming duties faster and simpler to navigate, saving customers worthwhile time and assets that may be allotted to different tasks. These efficiencies and automation improve productiveness for customers, which is a major purpose why many companies could also be migrating to Microsoft to entry this new AI-driven characteristic. Nonetheless, earlier than they do, there are a variety of things that should be thought of to make sure a seamless migration.

What to think about earlier than migrating to Microsoft 365

Migrations could be a advanced course of that requires quite a few steps, planning and precautions to execute them accurately and effectively. For these trying to migrate to Microsoft 365 particularly, varied components should be evaluated earlier than, throughout and after a migration.

Licensing and Prices

Perceive Microsoft’s licensing fashions, as they are often relatively advanced. It’s necessary to make sure you’re conscious of the licensing necessities for the services or products you intend to make use of and be ready for potential price implications. The licensing fashions obtainable can considerably differ from the service supplier corporations presently use, so it’s necessary to concentrate on the price discrepancies and consider budgets prematurely.

Compliance and Safety

Microsoft supplies a spread of compliance certifications and safety options. It’s important to grasp the particular compliance necessities every enterprise wants to satisfy and the way Microsoft’s companies will help them obtain and preserve compliance.

For instance, Microsoft makes use of Multi-Issue Authentication (MFA) for enhanced identification safety. It additionally has varied conditional entry insurance policies to regulate entry based mostly on sure situations, serving to to maintain info and person identities secure. As well as, Microsoft deploys Superior Menace Safety (ATP) to guard towards superior threats in emails and paperwork.

These compliance and security measures might have a studying curve for some customers, so it’s necessary training and coaching are factored into planning as soon as the transfer to Microsoft 365 is full.

Information Governance

Microsoft companies typically deal with delicate knowledge. As an illustration, Microsoft deploys eDiscovery instruments that allow organizations to determine, maintain and export content material for authorized or compliance functions. That is significantly essential in authorized investigations or audits.

Corporations should set up knowledge governance insurance policies and procedures to make sure knowledge privateness and compliance with rules just like the Normal Information Safety Regulation (GDPR) and the Well being Insurance coverage Portability and Accountability Act (HIPPA). These insurance policies and procedures ought to align with the capabilities and instruments Microsoft can provide to make sure final safety and general knowledge administration.

Use The Proper Migration Instrument

There are a lot of migration instruments available on the market, which makes deciding on the precise one a difficult and generally strenuous course of. With regards to migrating from a system supplier to Microsoft 365, it’s important to make use of a migration instrument that’s purpose-built for Microsoft to keep away from hiccups or setbacks that would derail a migration and its outcomes.

For instance, corporations could also be tempted to make use of free, first-party instruments due to the value level. Nonetheless, these instruments typically have restricted options and performance, scalability points and hidden prices. Utilizing a third-party platform will typically present superior configuration choices, 24/7 technical assist, cost-effective instruments and suitable Microsoft capabilities that meet corporations’ Microsoft 365 migration wants.

Efficiency Testing

With any migration, efficiency testing is vital. When it comes to migrating to Microsoft 365, IT groups ought to conduct efficiency testing to make sure the brand new Microsoft surroundings can deal with the workload and ship the required efficiency. This course of will determine any bottlenecks and permit IT professionals to resolve them earlier than conducting the precise migration, serving to to mitigate issues and complications that may negatively affect a undertaking.

Change Administration

Following a migration, it’s important that corporations develop a change administration plan to assist staff adapt to the brand new Microsoft programs, processes and workflows. Coaching and assist are key elements of this plan.

Thankfully, Microsoft has a number of processes that may make the transition to its platform seamless and simple. Microsoft supplies a Change Administration Framework for organizations to information planning and implement modifications to their Microsoft environments. This framework consists of finest practices, templates, and steering for change administration processes.

As well as, Microsoft Endpoint Supervisor is a unified administration answer for deploying and managing gadgets in a company. It permits directors to plan and deploy software program updates, purposes, and configurations in a managed and arranged method.

Embracing the facility of AI and Copilot

Microsoft Copilot marks a major milestone on the earth of AI, creating one other refined instrument for companies to make use of at their disposal to enhance operations and streamline day by day duties.

As corporations put together emigrate to Microsoft 365 to reap the benefits of Copilot, it’s crucial that IT groups contemplate quite a few components and implement a number of steps to make sure the migration to the system supplier is easy and headache-free. As soon as the migration is full and corporations have transitioned to Microsoft 365, they will reap the advantages of Copilot and embrace the facility of AI for a extra productive future.

By Stacey Farrar