Copilot for Microsoft 365: License and Roadmap [4/6]

Today, we tackle a number of diverse ‘nuts and bolts’ questions. These are:

• How can I *get* Copilot?

• What’s the ROI of Copilot?

• How do I *see* Copilot? Is it a different app?

• What Microsoft apps currently *have* Copilot? And a roadmap?

Okay, let's roll.

How to *get* Copilot for Microsoft 365? 

To use Copilot for Microsoft 365, you need to have a Microsoft 365 subscription that includes the Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft Graph. If your organization uses Microsoft 365 E3 or E5 today, then you likely already meet most of these prerequisites.

You also need to purchase a separate license for Copilot for Microsoft 365. This license includes Bing Chat Enterprise; a private version of Bing Chat that protects your business data and does not use it to train the Large Language Models (LLMs) that power Copilot.

So, in summary, you need two licenses to use Copilot for Microsoft 365: one for Microsoft 365 apps and the Microsoft Graph, and another one for Copilot for Microsoft 365 and Bing Chat Enterprise. You can buy these licenses from the Microsoft Store or from us.

The ROI of Copilot  - the quick approach

Let’s consider the cost of Copilot for Microsoft 365, which is $30 per user per month. Copilot for Microsoft 365 is expected to bring productivity improvements of 30% to 80%. Let’s consider the most conservative scenario where the productivity gain is 30%.

Assuming you work about 160 hours per month (a 40-hour work week), a 30% productivity gain equates to 48 hours saved per month. This means that even with a conservative estimate, Copilot pays for itself in time savings alone, making it a sound investment for boosting productivity.

What is productivity, though

However, defining the real ROI for Copilot involves a comprehensive approach that goes beyond just measuring the immediate impact. It requires a deep understanding of what productivity means for your organization.

Productivity can be defined in various ways, such as quality, speed, effort, or a combination of these factors. It’s like a Venn diagram where each circle represents a different aspect of productivity.

Next, consider the area of impact. Are you aiming to change work patterns across the entire organization? Or are you focusing on achieving specific goals within certain functions like HR, sales, or IT? Perhaps you’re looking to enhance the productivity of specific roles within these functions? Or again, a combination of those? 

Answering these questions will help you select the KPIs that will be used in calculating the ROI in a more meaningful and tailored way.

How do I *see* Copilot? Is it a different app?

No, Copilot is not a different app. It is a feature that works alongside Microsoft 365 apps such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more. You will see Copilot in the ribbon - there’s a Copilot button - or by pressing Alt+C on your keyboard in any of these apps. 

Copilot will integrate with your work data and apps in the Microsoft Graph and provide you with personalized and contextual assistance. To learn more about Copilot, the Microsoft Graph and the LLMs powering Copilot, take a look at this short explainer video [1:24]

What Microsoft apps currently *have* Copilot? What’s the roadmap?

This blog series focuses on Copilot for Microsoft 365, i.e. Copilot in your daily 365 apps – Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, OneNote and Whiteboard– as well as Microsoft Windows, Microsoft Edge and Bing.

However, the idea is to get you a Copilot for every Microsoft Cloud experience, so in the future that will also include:

• Business applications such as Dynamics 365, PowerPlatform and Viva Sales
• Coding tools such as GitHub
• Power BI
• … and Security