How to Accelerate Your Microsoft 365 Copilot Launch with FAIR and Rackspace Technology

In November 2023, Microsoft® launched Microsoft 365 Copilot, an AI assistant designed to enhance worker productivity, creativity and collaboration. The new application delivers six key AI-driven benefits to organizations — from fast email management to efficient meeting coordination.

Microsoft 365 Copilot combines the power of large language models (LLMs) with an organization’s own data to create “the most powerful productivity tool on the planet,” according to Microsoft. It’s integrated into the Microsoft applications most workers use every day, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook and Teams, where it unlocks productivity and uplevels skills.

A second feature, Business Chat, works with the applications and a company’s own data. Employees can give it prompts like, “Tell my team how we updated our product strategy.” Upon request with a prompt, Microsoft 365 Copilot will instantly generate a status update based on meetings, chat threads and emails.

Organizations can also unleash the full potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot by extending and customizing experiences with plugins. For example, they can use the application to sync content and data with Graph and Dataverse to create deeper insights and connections.

Launch through the completion of a two-step flight plan

Achieving a successful adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot extends beyond merely licensing the service. It encompasses an effective implementation, user engagement and alignment with responsible AI principles. FAIR and Rackspace Technology can provide a range of services to help organizations fully harness the potential of Microsoft 365 Copilot, while helping keep AI practices secure. It all starts with a two-step flight plan, including a complimentary assessment and an optional Preflight Checks service in your organization.

Step 1: Complimentary Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment

FAIR and Rackspace Technology, in partnership with Microsoft, deliver a complementary readiness assessment to help organizations evaluate their current environment, assess their organization’s readiness to use Microsoft 365 Copilot and receive tailored recommendations to help them move forward. Organizations get a comprehensive understanding of their current state and identify areas where Microsoft 365 Copilot can help improve productivity and creativity.

Over the course of two to four weeks, we’ll take you through each of the steps of our complimentary Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment:

• Planning and kickoff: Gather information about the organization’s business objectives and current productivity posture.
• Data collection: Identify existing use of Microsoft 365 solutions via a questionnaire, tool or Microsoft 365 usage portal, and identify opportunities of underuse or modernization.
• Demo and use cases: Level up the organization’s current understanding and proficiency in Microsoft 365 Copilot’s potential and demonstrate its applicability and use cases.
• Readiness evaluation: Identify the maturity of current Microsoft 365 environment and suitability of use for Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Path forward: Work with customer, SSP and partner to address and modernize any deficiencies impairing the adoption of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

At the conclusion of your readiness assessment, we’ll deliver the following documentation:

• Executive summary of data-driven findings on readiness to gain the benefits of Microsoft 365 Copilot.
• Zero trust review providing insights into security vulnerabilities and blockers to AI productivity, and prioritized risk mitigation recommendations.
• Business analysis on how to best use Microsoft 365 Copilot to maximize productivity in your organization.
• A tailored strategic roadmap with personalized recommendations and next steps to success with the transformative capabilities of Microsoft 365 Copilot.

Step 2: Preflight Checks for Microsoft 365 Copilot

After the completion of your readiness assessment, you have the option to prepare your organization for a successful implementation with Preflight Checks for Microsoft 365 Copilot. We’ll help you extend Microsoft 365 Copilot's reach into your organization’s data to help ensure seamless integration and maximum benefit. Through this service, our experts analyze the output of the Microsoft 365 Copilot Readiness Assessment and provide tailored recommendations to address data security, governance, change management and adoption requirements.

Preflight Checks for Microsoft 365 Copilot activities include:

• Prerequisite review and remediation
• Review and plan data governance
• Cleanup review, including data cleanup assistance
• Review and implementation of data security
• Engagement of adoption experts
• Review of extensibility opportunities
• Support for change management

How FAIR and Rackspace Technology help

A dedicated team of highly skilled Microsoft and AI experts from FAIR and Rackspace Technology can help you get the most out of your Microsoft 365 Copilot AI launch — and avoid the shelfware syndrome by:

• Guiding you through the complete Microsoft 365 Copilot AI journey.
• Acting as part of your internal team to execute the implementation, focusing on key elements like data security and governance, as well as change management and adoption.
• Preparing and securing your environment so you can extract high-quality outputs.
• Conducting user training so your employees can maximize the application’s functionality.

If you’re wondering whether your organization is ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot, watch our webinar.