The Safest Way to Adopt MS 365 Copilot

Copilot - Microsoft’s built-in AI assistant - has the potential to transform productivity across your organisation. But with this development comes new security and compliance risks. Synergi helps UK businesses like yours get it right from the start, so you can unleash the full power of Microsoft Copilot with confidence.

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What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?

Copilot is a powerful AI assistant that’s built into Microsoft 365 applications including Word, Excel, Teams, Outlook and PowerPoint.

Among its many capabilities, Copilot can:

Draft emails and documents
Summarise emails, documents and proposals
Analyse data from spreadsheets and other records
Generate reports, presentations and purchase orders

What are the main benefits of Copilot?

The primary benefit of using Copilot is productivity.

Copilot can cut down the time your team spends searching for information and completing repetitive manual tasks. This frees up their capacity for more strategic and higher-value work.

Used effectively, you can expect Copilot to help speed up routine processes and improve overall efficiency.

What are the main risks associated with Copilot?

Copilot is a private AI assistant, meaning the information you provide is protected within your MS cloud environment. The same can’t be said for general-access AI assistants like consumer versions of ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini.

However, using Copilot does mean allowing it access to data from across your organisation. This can expose your business to security, compliance and confidentiality risks if access is not set up correctly.

That’s why getting it right from the start is essential; having the proper procedures and permissions in place before you switch on Copilot will significantly reduce the risks involved.

Are you ready?

Before you roll out Copilot, find out if your MS365 environment is ready. Our Copilot Readiness Assessment identifies gaps in your data governance, permissions and licensing.

Book a Readiness Assessment

How could Copilot benefit your business?

Here are some of the many ways to use Copilot to your organisation’s advantage.

Draft in seconds

In Word and Outlook, Copilot can quickly generate emails, reports and proposals. This provides busy teams with an excellent foundation, allowing them to adjust writing rather than starting from scratch each time.

Never miss a meeting

In Teams, Copilot creates detailed meeting summaries and action lists automatically. Participants can stay present, without the need for meticulous note-taking, while non-attendees are kept fully informed.

Get more from your data

In Excel, Copilot uncovers patterns and analyses data. Ask it anything - when prompted, Copilot provides plain English responses to queries.

Find info fast

In SharePoint, OneDrive and Outlook, Copilot instantly surfaces relevant emails and records, reducing the time spent searching for missing information.

Free up your team

Across the entire suite of MS tools, Copilot can automate routine administrative and manual tasks, handing time back to your team and allowing them to focus on higher-value work.

Stay secure

Maintain confidence in your data handling and security measures while enjoying the benefits of an AI assistant by configuring Copilot to comply with your existing security policies.

How much time could you save?

Need help understanding how much time Copilot could save your team? Book a demo and we’ll show you the tools in action.

Book a demo

Copilot across your entire organisation

Streamline work processes across your business with Copilot.

HR

Copilot lets HR teams draft consistent job descriptions, summarise interview notes and summarise policy documentation.

Sales

Copilot helps your sales teams draft proposals, summarise customer calls and get better prepared for meetings.

Operations

Copilot supports ops teams with project update summaries, action point tracking and status report generation.

Management

Copilot allows management teams to surface insights from complex datasets and generate board-level summaries.

Copilot for finance teams

Faster bank feed reconciliations - Automated reporting - More productive teams: Your finance team is full of skilled professionals, but most of their time is taken up with lengthy manual processes. Month-end reports and bank reconciliations can often take days to complete, while more detailed reports are slow to build and often require multiple exports.

When used with Business Central, Copilot streamlines bank feed reconciliation workflows and can generate reports on demand. In Excel, Copilot quickly analyses financial data, providing finance teams with instant performance insights. This speeds up progress, allowing you to use your finance team’s skillsets to their full potential.

Deploying Copilot securely: What IT teams need to know

Reduce Copilot security and compliance risks through proper configuration and data labelling.: Without proper configuration, Copilot may allow users within your organisation to surface data they shouldn’t access.

This isn’t because Copilot poses an inherent security risk. Rather, Copilot uses default MS365 settings; if these aren’t strong enough, Copilot can expose existing gaps in your data security.

For example, if a confidential HR document is accidentally set up with the wrong sharing permissions within MS365, an employee could retrieve that record with a Copilot prompt.

Before adopting Copilot, many businesses – including some Synergi clients – voice concerns about data security and GDPR compliance.

For some, these concerns have been significant enough to simply opt out of using AI altogether. But, as Synergi’s Managing Director, Paul Burns, explains, this may not be the best approach: “Given the vital nature of data security to most businesses, the caution around deploying AI assistants like Copilot is understandable.

“But, without adopting these tools, businesses face the risk of being trailblazed by competitors in terms of productivity and performance.

“As employees become accustomed to using AI tools in their everyday life, they are likely to grow frustrated at the inability to use AI as part of their day-to-day work; especially when they already know just how much time it saves them. This could drive employees to use insecure AI assistants, which can lead to information being collected and shared with people outside of their organisations.

“The best solution is to carefully adopt Copilot, taking great care to configure it to your organisation’s existing security and data handling requirements.”

Reputable managed IT service providers like Synergi can work closely with IT teams to ensure safe deployment. At Synergi, we follow a five-step safety process to ensure proper handling of data.

Safer Copilot deployment with Synergi

Getting things right from the start is the safest way to deploy AI assistants like Copilot. Synergi follows a six-step secure AI adoption framework to set your organisation up for success.

1. Strategy

We work with you to understand your business objectives and how using AI could help you achieve them. At this stage we also scope out the type of Microsoft licence you may need and give you an honest breakdown of cost and potential returns on investment.

2. Data management assessment

We audit your Microsoft 365 environment, checking permissions to understand how data flows through your systems. At this stage, we often uncover inaccuracies, such as misconfigured user permissions, which could more easily be surfaced by the wrong users once Copilot is active.

3. Security setup

We identify risks and adjust settings to your data loss prevention (DLP) policies. At this stage we also identify areas that need regular monitoring and develop an incident response plan. This significantly reduces the risk of security breaches and incorrect data handling.

4. Ethical considerations

Responsible use of AI is important. We help you set out criteria for using Copilot safely and fairly across all your business activity, and identify which processes require human review. This gives you greater control over your data and decision-making.

5. Deployment

First we deploy a limited rollout of Copilot to a defined group of users within your organisation. This helps us uncover unforeseen risks before they develop and understand training requirements. Then, as soon as you’re ready, we turn on Copilot access for your entire organisation.

6. Training

We deliver tailored training to your organisation to help everyone in your team get the most from Copilot, as well as learning best practices for secure AI use. We provide ongoing support, helping you to iron out any issues and keep improving your Copilot experience.

How does Microsoft Copilot licensing work?

If you’ve already looked into Copilot, you may have noticed that there are several licensing options. Knowing which one you need can be a bit confusing.

You may already have access to a limited version of Copilot, as it is included as part of some Microsoft 365 plans. Plus, different versions of Copilot exist. For example, Copilot Studio allows users to create custom AI agents and workflow automations. This can be a very useful tool, but not every organisation needs access to it.

Although Microsoft’s multiple licensing options give you greater flexibility, selecting the right one can be complicated.

The Synergi team can help you avoid paying for the same thing twice by explaining what your existing licence covers. Plus, we’ll advise on the type of Copilot licence your organisation might need to unlock the full experience.

Talk to Us About Licensing

Copilot success story

As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, the Synergi team knows just how important it is to get Copilot deployment right from the start.

Following the correct procedures reduces the risk of data falling into the wrong hands – something we helped a client avoid when we were appointed to support their Copilot adoption.

Paul explains: “When conducting a readiness assessment, we identified sensitive data that had been incorrectly shared with everyone in the organisation by a previous finance team member.

“This was a simple error, but one that could have placed the organisation at risk of a data breach. Deploying Copilot without proper data labelling would have made it easy for an employee to surface this information – either innocently or deliberately.

“This error is unlikely to have been spotted without the six-step AI adoption framework that Synergi follows as part of every Copilot deployment project.”

Book a demo

Copilot FAQs

1. What is Microsoft 365 Copilot?: Copilot is an AI assistant embedded into familiar Microsoft 365 applications like Word, Excel, PowerPoint and Outlook. It’s designed to help teams save time by drafting, summarising, analysing and generating information and documentation.

2. Is Microsoft Copilot safe for business data?: Yes, Copilot is a private AI assistant, meaning it keeps your business data within your MS cloud environment. However, it must be configured correctly to ensure proper data handling and governance.

3. Is Microsoft Copilot GDPR compliant?: Copilot has GDPR-compliant capabilities, but proper configuration (usually by an IT specialist) is needed to ensure private information is handled correctly.

4. Can Copilot access confidential documents?: Copilot can only access documents when it has permission to do so. Correctly labelling sensitive data and adjusting security settings prior to switching on Copilot is highly recommended.

5. Does Copilot store my company's data?: No, company data is stored securely within your Microsoft cloud environment, which Copilot can access with the right permissions.

6. How much does Microsoft Copilot cost in the UK?: Pricing for Copilot can vary dramatically depending on the type of plan you need, and whether you are bundling it as part of another MS365 subscription. Currently, in the UK, an annual Copilot Business subscription starts at £16.10 per month.

7. Is Microsoft Copilot the same as ChatGPT?: No, Copilot and ChatGPT are not the same – but they are both built from similar large language models. Copilot is an AI assistant built into MS365 applications designed to support productivity, whereas ChatGPT is an advanced AI chatbot with generative capabilities.

8. How is Microsoft Copilot different from Copilot Studio?: In Copilot Studio, you can create AI assistants designed for specific tasks and build automated workflows. This helps you to tailor Copilot functionality to the unique requirements of your organisation. Copilot is an AI assistant built to support general productivity.

9. Do I need a Microsoft 365 licence for Copilot?: To access the version of Copilot, where your business data is secured within the MS cloud environment, you need an MS365 licence. A consumer version of Copilot is available for free.

10. How do I deploy Copilot safely across my organisation?: Safely deploying Copilot requires proper planning and data labelling. At Synergi, for example, we follow a six-step AI adoption framework that includes a data management audit, ethical considerations and Copilot training.

Why choose Synergi as your Copilot partner?

When it comes to adopting new technology like Copilot, working with the right provider can be a huge weight off your shoulders.

At Synergi, we have spent more than a decade helping our clients unlock the full Microsoft experience. We are proud to be a recognised Microsoft Solutions Partner.

Security is as important to our organisation as it is to yours. As a Cyber Essentials Plus-certified company, we have passed the same strict security standards we help our clients to achieve.

Our commitment to providing a friction-free service to our clients has resulted in an overall customer satisfaction score of 4.95/5 (we’re working on the other 0.05%).

Ready for more?

If you’re raring to remove the productivity barriers holding your team back, the team at Synergi can help. We’ll assess your Microsoft 365 environment, identify gaps and build a deployment plan that keeps your data secure.

To get the most from Copilot, get in touch.

Book a demo