Key Takeaways from the M365 Community Conference – What's next for Teams and AI

We're back from the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in Orlando, which was dominated by two major themes: Teams as the central hub for collaboration and the rise of AI/Copilot in the workplace.

Microsoft’s Continued Focus on Teams:
Microsoft is pushing to further establish Teams as the central hub for collaboration. The new Teams elevates the user experience to a new level. This is great news for everyone who loves Teams for what it is, but it also intensifies the headache for IT administrators who are fighting Teams sprawl and compliance violations to achieve consistent governance. Furthermore, as Teams becomes increasingly popular, collaboration between internal and external users will continue to grow, necessitating robust policies to manage external collaboration securely.

The AI Era with Copilot:
The AI era has officially begun, with Copilot poised to transform operations. The question is no longer if it will be deployed, but when. Unfortunately, the Copilot demos presented by Microsoft do not reflect reality. Successful Copilot deployment is challenging; it requires an organized M365 environment and a critical evaluation of security concerns, licensing costs, and organizational readiness. This will be the pressing challenge, and the sooner you tackle it, the quicker you can skyrocket your productivity.

Our Learnings and How We Can Help:
Throughout our conversations with the community, the recurring concerns aligned to the conference's main themes, notably:

1. Teams sprawl
2. Internal vs. external or guest user management
3. Copilot deployment

These insights have confirmed our commitment to providing a holistic M365 governance and management solution as a native Teams application. BCC Affirmatic serves as a unified access point for overseeing all your M365 objects and services, offering:

• Automated Governance: Tackle Teams sprawl head-on with approval workflows and delegated administration, simplifying management and ensuring governance.
• Guest User Lifecycle & Permission Management: Implement universal or team-specific policies within your tenant to ensure consistent guest user management.
• Preparation for AI Integration: Analyze your M365 environment to identify and address threats such as orphan objects, enabling smooth Copilot deployment.

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