M365 Premium
Core security controls recommended but get guidance
For organisations with 300 users or less but it includes security features which are important to the data/AI conversations needed for Copilot for M365.
Microsoft’s much anticipated Copilot for Microsoft 365 (also referred to as Microsoft 365 Copilot) is now available with no minimum quantity on the number of licences required. Until now, only large enterprises with 300 or more licences on an Enterprise Agreement had access. However, the power of workplace AI is now available to everyone, even for single users.
But before you pull out your credit card, here’s what you need to understand about Microsoft 365 Copilot licensing.
source: Microsoft
What is Copilot for Microsoft 365?
This blog is going to assume you know what this game-changing technology is all about, but in case you need a refresh, Copilot for Microsoft 365 is Microsoft’s generative AI technology that is now integrated into the Office 365 suite of products that most people use on a daily basis, like Word, PowerPoint, Outlook, Excel and Teams.
The combination of Copilot for Microsoft 365, the power of large language models (LLMs) and your business data working inside Microsoft 365 apps has created what is arguably the most powerful productivity tool on the planet. Research conducted by Microsoft with early users confirms this claim, with 81% saying they spent less time searching for information, 73% said it makes meetings more efficient, 79% spent less time processing email, and 94% said it makes it easier to get started on a first draft.
If you want to learn more about Copilot for Microsoft 365, read this guide. For now, we’re going to dive into the licensing complexities.
How does Copilot for Microsoft 365 licensing work?
You’re excited to feel the power of this new Gen AI technology in your day-to-day work, but the licensing can be complicated if you’re unfamiliar with the different licensing levels. We break it down here:
CSP vs EA vs DWE
CSP (Microsoft’s Cloud Solution Provider licence program) allows companies of any size to buy their licences through an authorised Microsoft partner as opposed to an Enterprise Agreement (EA), where a customer buys their licences directly from Microsoft.
Until now, Copilot for Microsoft 365 was only available via an EA, but Microsoft has now announced that you can buy the licence through their CSP licence programme.
SoftwareOne is part of the CSP programme - in fact we resell and manage more than $22bn of licences for Microsoft and provide the backbone to more than 175 million Office 365 users around the world. What’s more, we were part of Microsoft’s pilot programme to ready our Enterprise Agreement customers who were early adopters of the technology. In short, we have already worked hands-on with this new technology that many others are only now getting the right to sell.
We sell our CSP licences through a bundle called Digital Workplace Essentials (DWE). Our DWE bundle gives you access to SoftwareOne support, provides the Copilot for M365 licence and includes access to an online training portal so that you can rapidly get up to speed on the new technology. Additional benefits like enablement will be added going forward.
What kind of licence do you need for Copilot for M365?
The Copilot for M365 is an ‘add-on’ licence, which means that to buy it, you need to add it to an existing licence. There are six choices for an existing licence you can add it to:
M365 Business Standard
Baseline security, caution needed
Also for organisations with 300 users or less. If this is your current licence type, we recommend taking time to review your security technology before moving forward with a Copilot purchase.
Microsoft 365 E5 or A5 (A licences are for schools)
Best in class security, recommended
Microsoft 365 is a bundle which includes Office 365, Windows and Enterprise Mobility + Security (EMS), a Microsoft security suite which includes a range of security technologies important to the data/AI conversations needed with Copilot. One of the important differences is that the E5 level includes advanced security and compliance capabilities over and beyond what is included in E3.
Microsoft 365 E3 or A3
Core security controls recommended but get guidance
As above, Microsoft 365 bundles Office 365 and EMS, however, it does not include Microsoft Defender. We advise you review your security technology before moving forward with a Copilot purchase.
Office 365 E5
Baseline security, caution needed
A licence for the Office 365 suite, without EMS, but with Defender and other security features like identity access and management, information protection and insider risk management. While this has some security features, they may not be robust enough for the data/AI conversations needed with Copilot without the inclusion of EMS.
Office 365 E3
Minimal security, extreme caution needed
This just includes a licence for the Office 365 suite, without any security or compliance features added.
How does a Copilot for M365 licence affect existing licences?
Copilot for M365 is only available as an annual licence, not monthly. If you have existing annual licences you can co-term your Copilot purchase to the same expiration date of your existing annual licences. This means your existing licences and the Copilot licences will renew at the same time, making licence management easier.
If you’re an existing SoftwareOne DWE customer (remember DWE is what we call our bundle offering that includes CSP licences from Microsoft), then your SoftwareOne Account team can help with the steps to add a Copilot for M365 licence to your existing licences. It should be as easy as understanding your business case for adding Copilot, verifying the quantity needed, providing you with a quote, and placing the order.
If this is your first time ordering a Microsoft licence like this from SoftwareOne, our Account teams will make sure you are set up with a new DWE contract to enable a purchase.
What are the technical requirements needed to implement Copilot for Microsoft 365?
For Copilot to work, you must have certain applications deployed. If you already use Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, A3, or A5 today, then you likely already meet most of the prerequisites.
At a top level, they include:
- Microsoft Enterprise Apps for 365
- Microsoft Entra ID
- Microsoft OneDrive
- Microsoft Outlook
- Microsoft Teams
- Microsoft Loop - this must be enabled on your Microsoft tenant
- Microsoft Whiteboard
Details on how to set all of these up, network requirements, conditional access and access control can be found in this article.
Navigating the licence and security impact of Copilot for M365
Implementing ground-breaking technology like Copilot for Microsoft 365 to transform the way your organisation works may be tantalising, but there are many areas for consideration and caution before diving in headfirst, not least the impact on your licensing and security.
Our advice, don’t suffer from FOMO (the fear of missing out). But test it out on a small number of licences first - less than five - while you ready your organisation for a full adoption. Play with it, see where there may be issues with your organisational set up and speak to SoftwareOne about how to prepare your organisation for full-scale Gen AI adoption in your workplace.
In our second blog on getting started with Copilot for Microsoft 365, we will cover other areas of readiness to ensure a successful roll out of this exciting new technology.
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