Copilot for Microsoft 365: Available for ALL business users

Great news for smaller businesses waiting to get their hands on Microsoft 365 Copilot – the AI companion is now available to all Business Premium and Business Standard customers. 

After a successful enterprise launch in November, the 300-seat minimum limit has been removed, meaning even single-person businesses can start to supercharge their efficiency at the cost of a $30 user license add-on per month. 

The expansion to all businesses brings Copilot into the commercial mainstream, giving SMEs and micro businesses the same capabilities that have so far only been available to large corporates – capabilities such as summarising meetings in Teams, analysing data in Excel, or creating draft documents and presentations in Word and PowerPoint. 

How does Copilot differ from other AI platforms?

Copilot combines the power of Large Language Models (LLPs) with your organisation’s data universe in the Microsoft graph – so any answers it provides are delivered in your context. 

It means that documents can be created from similar examples in your files, emails can be drafted in your tone, and presentations can be created to match your usual style – all in the short time it takes to create a relevant prompt. 

In a Microsoft survey of early access users, 70% of users said that Copilot helped them to be more productive, while 67% said it allowed them to focus on more important activities – both potential game changers for smaller business directors and employees who want to free their time of the drudgery of menial tasks and boost productivity, but have a lower capacity to recruit. 

And importantly, because Copilot is backed by Microsoft’s enterprise grade security and inherits all of your company’s own security, compliance and privacy policies, any data accessed or created by the platform remains within the business – there’s no need for users to visit other, potentially less secure generative AI platforms. 

Development of Copilot continues at pace

Microsoft’s investment in, and development of Copilot continues at a rapid pace. In further updates: 

• A new, advanced subscription – Copilot Pro – has been announced, allowing users to access Copilot across all devices as well as via their Microsoft 365 Personal and Family subscriptions; get priority use of the latest models (starting with Open AI’s GPT-4 Turbo); and get access to enhanced services, including more advanced image creation and the ability to build customised GPTs; 
• A Copilot app is now available for Android and iOS, providing the power of Copilot on the go; 
• Education faculty and staff can now use Copilot for Microsoft 365, after access was opened up in December;
• And Copilot is now available for Office 365 E3 and £5 customers – the previous requirement for a Microsoft 365 license has been removed. 

Get set up for Copilot in the right way

Microsoft has now also enabled business users to purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365 through its Microsoft Cloud Solution Provider partners – meaning you can now buy your licenses from BCN. 

If you’re keen to get started, our advice to all companies is to begin with a comprehensive data and security assessment. 

Without reviewing your permissions and data governance before deployment, you could risk users accessing sensitive data via Copilot that they would ordinarily be restricted from viewing, or tapping into incorrect or incomplete information that would deliver lower quality results. 

Our Copilot Readiness Assessment can help you prepare – and get the most out of your investment in Copilot.