What to Consider Before Purchasing Microsoft Copilot: A Guide for Business Leaders

In our last blog, we answered the question, “What Microsoft Copilot Can Do For Your Business?” as we shared some of the key ways you can take advantage of Copilot’s power to save time and produce better content within your business.
After considering Microsoft Copilot’s features, perhaps you’ve decided your business is ready for Copilot. But before you run out to get it, it’s extremely important to understand there is more to evaluate than just features, and more goes into the purchase and installation than just buying it and turning it on.

Here are a few considerations to weigh to ensure Copilot is the right fit for your organization and to determine if you’ve done the work to ensure your organization is ready for Microsoft Copilot. Some of these will be technical and straightforward, however there are some considerations that will require more creative thought.
Here’s what to think about regarding cybersecurity, data privacy, and overall functionality.

1. Data Security and Privacy Concerns

Data Security needs to be a big consideration with every AI tool, including Microsoft Copilot. Integrated into Microsoft 365 applications like Outlook, Teams, PowerPoint, Excel, and Word, Copilot accesses and processes large volumes of company data. While Microsoft assures that data is protected through its comprehensive security protocols, businesses must review and update their security and policies to address the access this new kind of technology will have to their data, as well as which employees will have access to this technology and how much access will they have. If not properly considered and secured, sensitive data from emails, documents, and meetings may be exposed to AI algorithms that work to deliver summaries, emails, or insights based on this content.

To mitigate risk:

• Work with a Managed Service Provider (MSP)
  Work with a Managed Service Provider (MSP) to customize Copilot settings, ensuring data security policies are aligned with your organization’s standards. In addition to Copilot’s settings, you may need to review your company’s overall from a data security and privacy health to ensure sensitive data is properly stored to avoid accidental access by Copilot.

• Enable Microsoft’s built-in security features such as multi-factor authentication (MFA) and role-based access controls, to limit who can use Copilot on sensitive tasks.

• Regularly audit and review access logs to monitor any unusual activity related to Copilot.
• Apply permissions/restrictions to employees and/or data to ensure sensitive data is not accessible through prompts. Your head of HR may need the freedom to prompt Copilot in PowerPoint to create a slide deck to report on employee salaries to executives, but you wouldn’t want Copilot to access that information if any employee entered that prompt.
• Determine a review process and cycle. Microsoft promises a heavy focus on improvements and enhancements. It’s important to consider how those enhancements will be reviewed and evaluated to determine if they still align with your data privacy and security standards.

2. Cybersecurity Safeguards

Incorporating Copilot also raises cybersecurity considerations, particularly with how it interacts with other applications and databases. Cybersecurity teams should assess the Copilot configuration and evaluate the permissions Copilot requires across Microsoft 365. Here are key steps to take:

• Assess third-party access: While Copilot is integrated into Microsoft’s ecosystem, certain activities or plugins may still require access permissions that need to be carefully controlled.
• Leverage endpoint protection: Ensure endpoint protection is robust, as Copilot relies on real-time processing and can expose vulnerabilities if devices are compromised.
• Limit Copilot to essential functions: If Copilot access is unnecessary for certain users, restricting access can reduce potential exposure to data leaks or unauthorized usage.

3. Pricing and Licensing Options

Not all Copilot subscriptions are the same and turning it on within your business isn’t the same as turning Copilot on at home on a personal computer.
It’s important to evaluate which version of Copilot is right for you and your business. To properly consider your business network environment, data security and privacy, and your current Microsoft licensing, plus other factors, it could save you a lot of frustration to have a discussion with an MSP to determine if your business is ready for Microsoft Copilot and how to obtain licensing and setup that will work best for your business.

4. Understanding Copilot’s Capabilities and Limitations

While Copilot excels in generating drafts and summaries, it’s important to remember that it’s not a replacement for human judgment. The tool works as an AI assistant, not an “autopilot.” When we speak about it, we say that it’s a great way to get about ¾ of the way to complete quickly, but you still need to review and edit whatever it produces for you. This may include fact-checking and ensuring that generated content matches the tone and accuracy you want it to have.

If you want better output from any AI tool, you’re going to need to develop some new skills:

• Improve your prompting skills: Copilot’s output quality depends heavily on the clarity of your input. Well-crafted prompts will help refine Copilot’s responses, saving time in revisions.
• Put on your editor’s hat: Build in time for team members to review and adjust Copilot’s content. Misinterpretations or inaccuracies can occur, and many times it will produce content that you just aren’t in love with. You can, of course, keep asking Copilot to, “Try again.” but you may still need to sharpen your editing skills and make changes yourself to get the content where you want it to be.

5. Create a Standard/Culture for Content Quality

As your team relies on Copilot to assist them in creating content, it’s important to create clear standards and measurements for content quality within your organization. Have you created policies or training to help employees understand how they are expected to utilize Copilot and when they must roll up their sleeves and complete certain stages for themselves? Perhaps you may allow employees to draft a blog with Copilot in Word but never want them to take that draft and publish it on your company website without any human edits or revisions. It’s important to consider how you want Copilot to be utilized and build that into your culture and training your employees.

6. Consider Copilot’s Weakness

Ironically, Copilot doesn’t excel in Excel right now. But perhaps that’s a little unfair. I don’t know what or how I’m expecting to be wowed by Copilot in Excel. Perhaps some Excel fanatics out there are being blown away by what Copilot’s doing there. If you’re one of those people, I’d be interested to see the magic you’ve unlocked.
While there are other areas where Copilot doesn’t really make magic happen, Excel is gaining a lot of attention for not being very impressive.

Are You Ready for Copilot?

When using these considerations to evaluate if Microsoft Copilot is right for your organization, you may have specific questions about your organization’s security, privacy, or operational needs and how you’re going to ensure that your adoption of Copilot will be properly configured and rolled out.
To dive further into Copilot readiness and to get your questions answered, register for our upcoming webinar on the topic:

Copilot Readiness:
5 Key Considerations to Get Your Company AI-Ready

Live Webinar: January 23rd, 2-3PM EST