This week, tech leaders from all over come together for Microsoft Ignite. Microsoft Ignite showcases the latest innovations from Microsoft to support customers, partners and developers to achieve more from Microsoft technology and help enhance their business goals. Our cloud experts Mark Allford and Ed Wright are currently attending the event and we have already received some exciting news from the event and wanted to share it straight from the horses mouth.
AI Solutions to support the way we work: Microsoft Copilot
Throughout the year, Microsoft has shared the news of its built in AI companion, Copilot and since hitting general availability, users are reporting amazing things:
- 70% of Copilot users said they were more productive, and 68% said it improved the quality of their work.
- Users were able to get caught up on a missed meeting nearly 4x faster.
- 85% of users said Copilot helps them get to a good first draft faster.
- 75% of users said Copilot “saves me time by finding whatever I need in my files.”
- 77% of users said once they used Copilot, they didn’t want to give it up.
Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 has officially launched for enterprises, with notable companies already reaping its benefits. The new Microsoft Copilot Dashboard provides organisations with a comprehensive overview of Copilot’s impact, similar to insights from the Work Trend Index.
Key features include personalised responses in Copilot, aiding meeting preparation in Outlook, and introducing collaborative tools like whiteboarding and note-taking in Microsoft Teams. Copilot can now be used in meetings without retaining transcriptions, enhancing flexibility.
Enterprises can tailor their Copilot experience using Microsoft Copilot Studio, a low-code tool integrating business-critical data for bespoke copilots. This customisation, enabled by connectors, plugins, and GPTs, allows IT teams to optimise Copilot for specific queries using the organisation’s unique data and workflows.
Copilot for Service caters to businesses transforming customer service with role-based support. Integrated with Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365, it enhances contact centres with generative AI, providing quick and informed resolutions through natural language interactions.
For frontline workers, Copilot in Microsoft Dynamics 365 Guides combines generative AI and mixed reality for streamlined task completion. Initially available on HoloLens 2, it offers hands-free interactive guidance through natural language and gestures.
Microsoft Copilot for Azure simplifies IT administration, offering a unified chat experience that understands user roles, enhancing app and infrastructure design, operation, and troubleshooting. It provides insights into workloads, unlocks Azure functionality, and orchestrates tasks across cloud and edge environments.
To enhance accessibility, Microsoft integrates Copilot into Bing, rebranding Bing Chat and Bing Chat Enterprise as Copilot. Users with a Microsoft Entra ID benefit from commercial data protection in Bing, Edge, and Windows. Over time, commercial data protection will extend to more Entra ID users at no extra cost. Copilot transitions out of preview on December 1.
Reshaping collaboration with Microsoft Fabric
Another key innovation we saw from Microsoft this year has been Microsoft Fabric. Microsoft Fabric represents a complete analytics solution tailored for enterprises, encompassing the entire spectrum from data movement to data science, Real-Time Analytics, and business intelligence. This encompassing solution provides a comprehensive suite of services, consolidating data lake, data engineering, and data integration within a unified platform.
Available now, Microsoft Fabric transforms team collaboration with data by uniting everyone on a single, AI-powered platform. This platform integrates all data estates onto an enterprise-grade foundation, revolutionising how teams interact with data.
Bolster defences in the age of AI
The landscape of threats has undergone significant changes in recent times, and at Microsoft Ignite, we are introducing new technologies across Microsoft’s range of security solutions to assist defenders in making the world a safer place.
The amalgamation of Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR (formerly Microsoft 365 Defender) will give rise to the industry’s inaugural Unified Security Operations Platform, incorporating embedded Security Copilot experiences. Featuring built-in generative AI, this singular, potent experience is dedicated to thwarting threats at machine speed and assisting defenders by simplifying the intricacies of their environment.
Furthermore, the addition of Security Copilot integrated into Intune, Purview, and Entra will aid IT administrators, compliance units, and identity teams in simplifying intricate scenarios. Within Entra, identity administrators can swiftly address identity access issues. In Purview, data security alerts provide comprehensive context to expedite issue resolution. Within Intune, IT administrators can employ “what if” analysis to uphold business operations while enhancing governance and compliance.
If you’d like to know more about the latest advancements in Microsoft technology or how we can support your Microsoft environment get in touch.
