Microsoft 365 Admin Monthly Digest – Sep 2023

a banner depicting the title of the blog with tagline ”Your monthly IT admin blog for all things Microsoft 365”

Welcome to the Microsoft 365 IT admin blog, your monthly source of tips, insights, and best practices for managing and optimizing your Microsoft 365 environment. In this edition, we cover topics the upcoming AMA on Microsoft 365 Copilot, general availability of Copilot and Bing Chat Enterprise, new and upcoming features in the Microsoft 365 admin center, new Teams Premium deployment and enablement guides, and the exclusive OneDrive event.   

Join the next AMA on Microsoft 365 Copilot  

We’ll be hosting the next AMA (Ask Me Anything) on Microsoft 365 Copilot on Thursday, September 28 in the Microsoft 365 Copilot Tech Community. The event is a great opportunity to hear from members like you and have the team of experts answer questions. You can send in your questions to the event page now, and a team of experts will join us to help answer them during the event. In our previous AMA, we had great discussions on getting ready for Copilot, admin controls and usage insights. In the next section we have some additional resources recently made available for admins and end users. You can catch up on the previous AMA that was focused on Microsoft 365 Copilot here.  

Catch the latest updates on Microsoft 365 Copilot 

In an exclusive event on Sep 21, Microsoft announced a series of exciting updates, including that Microsoft 365 Copilot will be generally available on November 1, and that Microsoft Copilot in Windows will be begin rolling out in preview to commercial customers beginning September 26. You can learn more about all the details of the announcements made on this blog. 

As we wait for November, there’s much that admins can do to prepare and get your tenants AI-ready. We’ve recently launched an admin hub for Microsoft 365 Copilot documentation that provides a central place for technical content on Copilot and getting prepared. For your users, this page highlights Copilot capabilities in the various Microsoft 365 apps and is a great resource on how to get started as a user. 

Earlier this month, Microsoft also unveiled the new Copilot Copyright Commitment for its customers. This commitment extends Microsoft’s existing IP indemnification coverage to copyright claims relating to the use of its AI-powered Copilots, including the output they generate, specifically for paid versions of Microsoft commercial Copilot services and Bing Chat Enterprise. This means that if customers are challenged on copyright grounds while using Microsoft's Copilot services, Microsoft will assume responsibility for the potential legal risks involved. This is a new benefit that builds on Microsoft's previous AI Customer Commitments. Check out the full announcement and details of the initiative here. 

Highlights across Microsoft 365 administration 

Let’s check out some of the latest features we launched in the Microsoft 365 admin center and how they can help you get things done.  

Enable Bing Chat Enterprise by user 

For tenants with Bing Chat Enterprise, admins now have the option to enable or disable Bing Chat Enterprise to a subset of users before deploying it more broadly across your organization. To provide user-level access, follow the standard process outlined at View Microsoft 365 licenses and services with PowerShell. The service plan name for Bing Chat Enterprise is Bing_Chat_Enterprise. Learn more about changing license plans for users and groups here. As a reminder, turning off Bing Chat Enterprise reverts the user to the consumer Bing Chat experience that does not include commercial data protection when users access AI-powered chat through bing.com, Edge sidebar, or Windows Copilot. Learn more about the user-level admin controls here. 

New features to simplify user device channel management 

Next month, new capabilities will begin rolling out in the Microsoft 365 Apps admin center to help admins switch Update Channels for their user devices or Entra ID (formerly Azure AD) Groups in Inventory. Cloud Updates will offer an “Enable Cloud” button on the home dashboard which can help simplify moving devices to Current or Monthly Enterprise Channel. You’ll also be able to review current rollout information, next release dates for updates, and a progress chart displaying devices and their update status. These enhancements are aimed at making it easier for you to manage your user devices in Current or Monthly Enterprise Channel.  

This is particularly relevant now because the fast-moving nature of Microsoft 365 Copilot means that to securely provide the best experience to users, their devices need to be on Current Channel or Monthly Enterprise Channel (at GA) to receive Copilot features.  

 You can learn more about update channels here. 

New Teams Premium deployment and enablement guides 

Microsoft recently launched a new deployment guide for Teams Premium (direct download link), designed to assist Teams admins and provide a comprehensive understanding of each feature included in the Teams Premium package. The deployment guide consists of two assets. The primary deck offers an extensive overview of each feature, including its value, visibility, use case(s), additional roles required, prerequisites, dependencies, and limitations. It also provides a link to the features enablement guide, which is presented in the second deck. The enablement guide walks admins through a step-by-step process to configure, enable, and educate meeting organizers and end users on how to effectively utilize these features. For your users, a corresponding user guide (direct download link) was also recently created with detailed instructions in a step-by-step format on how to utilize each feature. 

Join us for an exclusive OneDrive event 

On October 3, 10am PT, join us at the upcoming online event, Microsoft OneDrive: The Future of File Management is Here. This event is geared for IT admins, partners, and Microsoft 365 power users to give them a firsthand look at what’s new and what’s coming in OneDrive for work and school. Jeff Teper and the OneDrive product team will highlight new features and enhancements, plus they'll give a sneak peek at the AI plans for OneDrive. The event is free to attend, and registration is open. 

Stay updated 

As always, stay current with the latest updates on the Microsoft 365 admin center from the Microsoft 365 roadmap and the message center. In addition, we also highlight new feature releases and enhancements released each month in our What's new in the Microsoft 365 admin center article.  

Comment below if there are IT admin or change management topics you would like us to explore in future!