If you found this valuable, the I’d appreciate a ‘like’ or perhaps a donation at https://ko-fi.com/ciaops. This helps me know that people enjoy what I have created and provides resources to allow me to create more content. If you have any feedback or suggestions around this, I’m all ears. You can also find me via email director@ciaops.com and on X (Twitter) at https://www.twitter.com/directorcia.
If you want to be part of a dedicated Microsoft Cloud community with information and interactions daily, then consider becoming a CIAOPS Patron – www.ciaopspatron.com.
Robert talked about various topics in the meeting, including the need to know webinar for April 2024, Microsoft 365 cloud news, and Loop. He also provided information on how to keep up to date with Microsoft’s announcements and how to troubleshoot and assist in Intune using Copilot for Security.
Robert hosted a webinar on the need to know for April 2024. He thanked everyone for joining and confirmed that the sound and video checks were done, and the recording had started. He advised that the recording would be available afterward.
Robert discussed two topics in the meeting. Firstly, he talked about Microsoft’s plan to introduce an external recipient rate limit from January 2025.
Robert discussed Microsoft’s Loop product and its components, including task listing. He advised that it is important to learn how to use the tools before putting production information in them.
Robert talked about Microsoft licensing changes due to the European Union’s anti-competitive requirements. Teams will no longer be included in the suite and will need to be purchased as an add-on license. Microsoft Mesh, a virtual reality style world connected to teams, is now fully available but requires a premium license.
Robert discussed the changes in Microsoft licensing due to the European Union’s anti-competitive requirements. Teams will now be detached from new sales of Microsoft 365 and will need to be purchased as an add-on license. Existing licenses are not affected.
Robert discussed the wider environment and the premium license required to access it. He also talked about the Apple Vision Pro reports and its low adoption rate. Robert then moved on to talk about Teams, which is Microsoft’s major focus.
Robert discussed the challenges of using SharePoint and how Microsoft Teams can help. Teams leverages existing services like exchange online, SharePoint, planner chat, and more. By default, most users can create a team without needing any particular permissions.
Robert discussed the modern approach of using multiple social media accounts and how Teams is a combination of chat conversations, calls, chats, meetings, and video conferences. He also mentioned that Teams integrates with Office 365 apps and has customization extensibility.
Robert discussed the capabilities of Microsoft Teams, including the ability to set meetings on various platforms, integrate with telephony systems, and apply policies and compliance.
Robert talked about the benefits of using Teams for developing apps at zero or very little cost. He also discussed the integrations available to the administrator to control permissions and licenses. Robert explained how files work inside a team and how every team created creates a dedicated SharePoint site in the background.
Robert discussed the capabilities of Teams, including the ability to develop your own apps at zero or very little cost, and the various integrations available. He also explained how files work inside a team, with each team creating a dedicated SharePoint site.
Robert discussed the benefits of using Power Automate to create automated processes in Teams. He emphasized the importance of breaking up teams by department or function and highlighted the enterprise security compliance and manageability features available in Microsoft 365.
Robert discussed the benefits of using Microsoft Teams for work collaboration. He mentioned that the new Teams client is faster and better than the old one and allows for easy switching between different teams.
Robert discussed the benefits of using the new teams and encouraged everyone to start using it. He also highlighted the challenges of allowing remote access or group access and suggested using teams to collaborate with people inside and outside the organization.
Robert explained the limitations of guest users in external teams. They cannot be an administrator of a team or create channels.
Robert talked about enabling guests in teams, integrating phones into teams, and the premium features of Microsoft Teams. He emphasized that Microsoft is encouraging collaboration and making it possible out of the box, but users can restrict it with policies.
Robert discussed various aspects of Microsoft Teams, including enabling guests, integrating phones, and the premium offering. He emphasized that Microsoft is encouraging collaboration and making it possible out of the box.
Robert provided an overview of the capabilities of Teams Premium. He discussed the intelligent recap feature, which allows users to search for specific words or ideas mentioned in a meeting.
Robert introduced an app called Meet that gives a summary of all meetings and allows users to jump between them quickly. He recommended it for those who spend a lot of time in Teams meetings.
Robert discussed the capabilities of SharePoint in Teams. He explained how to search for SharePoint, launch a meeting inside a channel, control notifications, and pin conversations to the top. He also mentioned that each channel has a unique email address and a link.
Robert explained the features of Teams, including the ability to receive notifications for new updates and changes, chat with individuals or groups, share files and gifts, and escalate to audio or video calls.
Robert talked about Microsoft Teams and its capabilities. He explained how it is a different approach to collaboration and how it can help provide advanced productivity and save time in businesses. He discussed the integration with the phone system and OneDrive for Business.
Robert discussed the features and capabilities of Microsoft Teams in a meeting. He explained how to schedule a meeting, use the phone system, and work with personal and shared files.
Robert demonstrated the features of the Meet app and how it can be integrated with other apps. He emphasized the benefits of using Teams for collaboration, including the ability to search for data quickly and easily.
Robert demonstrated how to automate processes using Power Automate in Teams. He showed examples of automations such as dad joke of the day, space picture of the day, and chat GPT.
Robert discussed the benefits of using Teams for collaboration, highlighting its features such as working out loud, sharing, searching, and putting information and control in users’ hands.
Robert provided an overview of Microsoft Teams and its capabilities. He emphasized the importance of moving from one-to-one collaboration using email to working out loud.
Follow-up tasks:
Teams licensing: Review the changes in Teams licensing and pricing due to the EU decision and the new Teams premium option (Teams resellers and customers)
Copilot for security: Explore the benefits of Copilot for security, especially for Intune and Defender integration and troubleshooting (Teams admins and security managers)
Loop: Learn how to use Loop and its new task list component and compare it with other tools like OneNote and Planner (Teams users and collaborators)
Teams shared channel: Set up the required permissions to join the Teams shared channel and send an email to Robert to request access (Anyone interested in joining the Teams shared channel)
Teams premium features: Try the new Teams client and the new features like intelligent recap, branding, and mesh (Teams users and meeting organizers)
The 25th of April is the day we in Australia pause to remember those who have served. This includes those in times past as well as in the present. The 25th of April is the anniversary of the Australian and New Zealand (ANZAC) forces landing at Gallipoli in 1915 as part of a campaign to shorten the first World War.
The sad reality was that nine months later no strategic value had been achieved and the forces were withdrawn and transferred to the Western Front to battle the Germans over the remaining years of World War I. Those nine months at Gallipoli resulted in around 9,000 of these forces being killed and around 18,000 being wounded. It was a high price to pay for a continued stalemate far away from home against a determined enemy defending their homeland.
The positives of this action are probably only best viewed with the benefit of hindsight. The largely represent the beginning of the appreciation that Australia was now a unique nation on the world stage and was united as it had never been. It also created a legacy of remembrance and recognition of service to the nation that endures today. Such appreciation has waxed and waned over the years but now appears to be as strong as it has ever been.
It is strange how ANZAC day bring people together now like few other modern causes or challenges. It is easy to judge sacrifice through the lens of history whilst enjoying all the benefits. We hope that we will never see the need for such service again but we also hope that if it is required that the sacrifices of the those before inspire those that need to. We know that for a select few who serve us today, it does.
One of the unique things about the ANZACS through their time in World War I is that they remained an entirely volunteer force, unlike many other nations who enacted conscription to fill their ranks. This, I believe, is what truly makes the ANZAC spirit unique. They were perhaps nieve but when most chose to remain and serve their ‘mates’ above all else. This is the true legacy I suggest they leave us all these later. This is the reason those who serve today do. They do so for other and the greater good. This is what we need to celebrate and honour.
Such an ideal is not something that you can put a price on or measure with a ruler but it is the reason why the majority of us are able to enjoy the lifestyle and freedoms that we. Our only duty, is therefore, to at least stop, remember and say thank you for what these people did and what other continue to do for us today. These commitments are the reasons why we enjoy our freedoms today.
Lest We Forget
For those interested in learning of the continued sacrifices that the ANZACs made after withdrawing from Gallipoli in World War 1, when they went to fight in northern France until the end of the war, should visit my web site:
I’ve now had a chance to play with Copilot for Security and can recommend it but to ensure that costs don’t spiral out of control for SMB, it needs to used in an ad hoc manner. Listen along for my thoughts and a walk through of resources available for you. Also news of updates of Exchange email threshold limits being changed as well as improvements for Microsoft Mesh, Loop and more. Listen in for the latest updates.
Summary of podcast episode straight from Copilot for Microsoft 365:
Main ideas:
Podcast overview: The podcast provides news and information on the Microsoft Cloud, with a special focus on the SMB market. The host, Robert Crane, invites listeners to contact him via email, blog, YouTube, or shared channel.
New Azure service for security analysis: Microsoft copilot for security is an Azure service that leverages AI to assist security analysts and investigators. It uses a consumption billing model and can be turned on and off as required. It also supports plugins and custom documents to extend its capabilities.
Public preview of high volume email feature: Microsoft 365 customers can sign up for a public preview of high volume email, which allows them to send more emails than the existing mailbox limits. This feature is useful for SMBs who need to send newsletters or marketing campaigns to their customers.
Detection of QR code phishing attacks: QR code phishing is a technique that uses malicious QR codes to trick users into giving away their credentials. Microsoft provides some KQL queries that can be used in Defender for endpoint and Sentinel to detect and alert on these attacks.
Virtual reality platform for collaboration: Microsoft Mesh is a virtual reality platform that enables users to connect and collaborate in immersive 3D spaces. It requires a Teams premium license and a compatible device. It can be used for various purposes, such as training, events, or meetings.
Licensing changes for Microsoft 365 in the European Economic Area: Microsoft has agreed to separate Teams from the Microsoft 365 suite in the European Economic Area, to comply with competition rules. This means that Teams will be a separate add-on that needs to be purchased separately. Existing customers are not affected by this change.
If you found this valuable, the I’d appreciate a ‘like’ or perhaps a donation at https://ko-fi.com/ciaops. This helps me know that people enjoy what I have created and provides resources to allow me to create more content. If you have any feedback or suggestions around this, I’m all ears. You can also find me via email director@ciaops.com and on X (Twitter) at https://www.twitter.com/directorcia.
If you want to be part of a dedicated Microsoft Cloud community with information and interactions daily, then consider becoming a CIAOPS Patron – www.ciaopspatron.com.
One of the major things that SMB need to pay very close attention to is the cost of Copilot for Security, given that it needs to be used in an ‘on-demand’ manner to be cost effective for smaller businesses. A good way to keep abreast of those costs is to use Budgets in Azure.
My recommendation is that you configure Copilot for Security in its own Azure Resource Group so that costs and permissions are easier to manage. Inside this dedicated Copilot for Security Resource Group you can attach a budget with notification. To this, navigate to the Azure Resource Group where Copilot for Security is provisioned. Locate the Budgets menu item on the left under the heading Cost Management as shown above. On the right, select +Add from the menu across the top.
Give the budget a name, a reset period (typically monthly) and date range.
If you scroll down you’ll see that you can set a budget amount. Here I’m setting the budget to $150. Select the Next button at the bottom of the page to continue.
On the next screen you can configure a threshold alert level. Here I set that to 90% of my budget. This means I’ll start getting alerts about Copilot for Security when the cost reaches around $135. You can configure multiple thresholds if you wish.
You can also have the alert take automatic action via an Action Group (say shut down the resources), but I won’t cover this here.
A little further down you can configure the email you wish to receive the notification on. You can configure multiple emails to receive notifications if you wish.
Scroll to the bottom of the page and select the Create button.
You should now see the budget you just created as shown above. You can click on the name for more details.
You can also edit and delete the configuration here if you wish.
Now, when you exceed the thresholds you set in this budget, you’ll get an email notification that your spending on Copilot for Security has reached the threshold you set.
If you found this valuable, the I’d appreciate a ‘like’ or perhaps a donation at https://ko-fi.com/ciaops. This helps me know that people enjoy what I have created and provides resources to allow me to create more content. If you have any feedback or suggestions around this, I’m all ears. You can also find me via email director@ciaops.com and on X (Twitter) at https://www.twitter.com/directorcia.
If you want to be part of a dedicated Microsoft Cloud community with information and interactions daily, then consider becoming a CIAOPS Patron – www.ciaopspatron.com.
The biggest challenge for SMB with the AI offerings from Microsoft is to determine exactly which Copilot is being talked about. This is because there is a Copilot for just about everything now. From Copilot for Github, to Copilot for Security, Copilot for the Power Platform and so on. Job number one therefore is focusing on which Copilot will provide the most benefit for the organisation.
Before you rush in purchase any Copilot ensure you understand the financial commitment required as well. For example, currently, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is an annual up front commitment of around AU$45 per month paid in advance. So even though AU$45 per month may sound enticing, the billing is actually around AU$540 up front before you even get started! The cost of various Copilot licenses vary, so it is important to determine what you need and what the cost and cashflow of this investment will be ahead of time. With Copilot for Microsoft 365 remember that once you purchase it you’ll have it for at least 12 months. You should ask yourself the question as to whether it will be used for the full period that you have paid for? If implemented inside a business correctly I feel there is little doubt that the benefits will be forthcoming but importantly, just buying and assigning the licenses to users is no guarantee of success with any Copilot.
No matter which Copilot you do focus on, that Copilot will not be an ‘everyone’ license. What that means is that not all employees of the business will gain the benefits from the license. Thus, you need to target the Copilot you want at those who will get the most from it.
In this case I’ll focus on Copilot for Microsoft 365 which is targeted at improving the productivity of knowledge workers. The best candidates for this license are those users who ‘create’ things. Think of people who create reports, create marketing material and so on. Little benefit will be had providing Copilot for Microsoft 365 to those that merely ‘process’ information. That is those say entering accounts or stock information.
It important to appreciate that Copilot for Microsoft 365 is neither The Terminator or C3PO. This is because the actual work still needs to be done by a person. Copilot for Microsoft 365 will assist in this process and make it easier and faster but it will not do the complete job end to end just yet. This means it is important to see Copilot for Microsoft 365 as an intelligent assistant that works beside the individual who has access to it, rather than a replacement for that individual.
Copilot for Microsoft 365 surfaces itself in a variety of locations in the Microsoft 365 environment. One of those is chat like so:
Here is probably the most general place you can use Copilot for Microsoft 365. Ask it any question and it will reason over your data as well as potentially from the web
Provided you enable the plugin as shown above first.
If prompt it with something generic like ‘Test me on some japanese phrases‘ you see the response it returns with above. If I expand the References you can see that Copilot for Microsoft 365 has returned material from the web (12-rules-to-learn-languages-in-record-time as well as referring a document that is in SharePoint. It is important to note that benefit this provides over other stand alone AI chat programs like ChatGPT that only return information from the web. Thus, the biggest different with Copilot for Microsoft 365 is that is works across the web and data in Microsoft 365.
The simplest way then to think about Copilot for Microsoft 365 is that it is a search engine on steroids. It is important to remember that what you see is largely based on search, that is, what it finds. This means that if you haven’t properly secured your Microsoft 365 environment Copilot for Microsoft 365 is going to find stuff you may not realise it can. That isn’t because Copilot for Microsoft 365 is doing something wrong, it is in fact that you have left the door open on your data and you need to tighten your permissions. The reality is that same information could have been found with standard Microsoft 365 search. Copilot for Microsoft 365 simply does a better job of finding and displaying it.
The takeaway here then is that your business needs to ensure you have appropriate permissions prior to implementing Copilot for Microsoft 365 or you maybe surprised at what pops out.
If I now ask chat to create an image for me based on a prompt you’ll see from the above that it can’t. It instead gives me a handy tip as to how to achieve this. Not only do you need the right Copilot for the job you also need to use Copilot in the right location to get the result you want. As I said, currently, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is not C3PO that can solve any task you give it from anywhere.
If I ask Copilot for Microsoft 365 to summarize a document by only giving it the name of the document it does an amazing job as you can see above.
But if I ask it to convert this PDF to a Word document it again is not something that can be done here.
It is also important to remember that Copilot for Microsoft 365 responses are not immediate. They take a few moments to generate. That can be frustrating for people who are used to “immediate’ responses and are time challenged. Again, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is great research tool that you spend time with, it not a tool that you fire rapid questions at expecting an immediate response, just yet.
If I ask Copilot for Microsoft 365 to convert a PowerPoint document you’ll see I get a response that gives me a little more more information about what I should do.
However, when I do the same thing in Word I get the result that I really wanted. The take away is that a large amount of Copilot for Microsoft 365 how and where you use it. Yes, it can convert stuff into Word but you need to use Copilot for Microsoft 365 inside Word to achieve that. I’m sure that will change over time, but for now, keep that in mind when using Copilot for Microsoft 365.
Where Copilot for Microsoft 365 really shines is in creating new content from scratch. If I start with a blank document in Word and prompt it with the above, the result is:
Which saves me hours and hours when I need to generate new content. Keep in mind however, generating new content constantly is not always the job of everyone inside a business.
Another area where Copilot for Microsoft 365 really shines is summarizing information as seen above. Here, I’ve had it work on a 72 page document, which was a transcript of a webinar session, and produce the summary.
As you can see, that summary includes references and I can continue asking questions about that.
Summarization also works well in the chat interface, even with external websites like what is shown above. The same is also evident inside Teams.
If you plan to use Copilot for Microsoft 365 with Teams you’ll typically have to enable both recording and transcriptions on the meetings to get the benefits. There is the option to automatically a recording with every Teams meeting but my question is, are the really all worth recording?
Thus, a reason you may want to consider it for more people inside your organization is if they are required to wade through a lot of information as part of their role.
The same summarization capability is surfaced in Outlook as shown above.
As well as generating new content for emails. The current limitation here is that to get the most benefit from Copilot for Microsoft 365 you’ll need to be using the New Outlook, which I feel is still missing many important features that the classic desktop version has (e.g. drag and drop of attachments to Windows Explorer). I’m sure these will come to classic Outlook over time and it is easy enough to switch back and forth but, for now, New Outlook is where Copilot for Microsoft 365 really works best.
Without doubt Copilot for Microsoft 365 has big benefits with email, however it again comes down to how people use Outlook. In my experience, most people do not need to write or read long complex emails. They simply send and reply using brief responses. For these people Copilot for Microsoft 365 isn’t going to provide huge benefits but if your role does involve working with long and complex subject matter in emails (think lawyers for example) the Copilot for Microsoft 365 would be a huge productivity benefit for them.
The summary would be that you firstly need to define exactly what processes in you business you want to make more productive (email processing, document creation, etc). You then need to select the appropriate Copilot for that (typically Copilot for Microsoft 365 to work with emails, documents, etc). Then, you need to identify those users in the business who will gain the most from using Copilot, and this typically will not be every user initially. With all that identified you should then ensure you have permissioned your data appropriately and then purchase the appropriate licenses and assign them to those selected users. The last task will be to train those selected users on how to use the Copilot you have selected because you cannot and should not assume they will natively know how to get the most out of it. You need to train them to help them understand the most effective method for them to use in their day to day work and when it is appropriate use and when it is not.
The Copilot for Microsoft 365 you see today is only the beginning of how AI will become infused throughout Microsoft 365. Today, it is like you manually needing to run spell checker, soon spell checker will happen on the fly. That is what we can expect sooner rather than later when it comes to Copilot for Microsoft 365.
CIAOPS 