Microsoft Copilot with O365:
Go Where Others Fear to Tread!
Trailblazing the frontier of technical innovation, while maintaining a stable and feature-rich application set, requires balance, strategy, and discipline. Microsoft Copilot has quickly gained traction in law firms, proving to be a valuable efficiency tool, with sights on exponential productivity for firms eager to explore the potential.
A strategic understanding of the shift to Copilot with O365 is essential for driving application modernization in an era of rapid AI innovation.
In the Past
Historically, discussions revolved around the most suitable channel for law firms and the numerous add-ins requiring support. Firms favored the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel in Microsoft 365 as the update channel, receiving the new features and non-security updates every January and July. Concerns around stability, compatibility, and the potential disruption of critical workflows prevented firms from adopting the Monthly Enterprise Channel.
A New Route
Initially, law firms deployed the Monthly Enterprise Channel for Microsoft 365 Apps solely within IT and Training departments to validate and assess upcoming features, updates, and changes to the Semi-Annual Enterprise Channel. However, as a broader audience of users were eager to leverage newer features like Copilot, firms have begun to adopt the Monthly Enterprise Channel in varying deployment strategies from select users/groups to firm wide deployments.
The Monthly Enterprise Channel for Microsoft 365 Apps is the only enterprise channel firms can use to integrate Office 365 with Copilot. This integration with Office 365 provides real-time access to large language models (LLM) based assistance across Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, and Teams.
Notable features include:
- Word: Assisting with writing, suggesting relevant content, and improving documents
- Excel: Analyzing data and creating charts or tables.
- PowerPoint: Crafting presentations with suggestions for slide content, design ideas, and transitions
- Outlook: Assisting in drafting emails & summarizing lengthy email threads
- Teams: Summarizing meetings with action items
Changing Paths
The Monthly Enterprise Channel for Microsoft 365 Apps is an update channel that provides organizations with monthly updates on a predictable schedule. These updates, delivered on the second Tuesday of each month, can include feature updates, security patches, and non-security updates. This channel offers a balance between receiving new features and maintaining a more stable and predictable update cadence.
Frequent feature updates previously increased risks of interruption, however, as Office 365 matures, stability issues are fewer and farther between, according to feedback from the legal tech community. The robust infrastructure and support provided by Microsoft has alleviated concerns. Lastly, vendors that provide applications that integrated with Office 365 have also improved their application lifecycle models to keep up with this rate of change. My colleague Dan Paquette provides additional insights on managing Copilot with Microsoft 365 tools in his article Controlling Copilot with Microsoft 365 Tools.
The Road Ahead
Enthusiastic adoption of the feature rich productivity tools across Microsoft Office and Copilot can replace the fears and hesitancy of past instability and compatibility issues. Future focused firms can proceed systematically, prioritizing Artificial Intelligence policies, ongoing user awareness programs, and continuous testing and validation of the Office Monthly Channel. Embracing these advancements creates the path to new, robust application integration opportunities.
Learn More
To learn about Kraft Kennedy’s approach to Copilot, or to discuss your unique needs, request a conversation.
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