An MSP’s role in Copilot readiness

The integration of artificial intelligence (AI) has quickly become a necessity– and not only for enterprises. Studies show that 53% of SMBs consider AI as a business priority. At the forefront of this AI revolution is Microsoft 365 Copilot.

We spoke with AvePoint’s Director of Sales and Channel, Oliver Gohl, to find out how MSPs can ensure their clients are able to leverage Copilot to improve business productivity and output quality, whilst ensuring their data is AI-ready.

What does it mean for an organisation to be AI-ready?

According to AvePoint’s 2024 AI & Information Management Report, to ensure the accuracy of AI input and output, 77% of organisations acknowledge they must implement new information management measures, and those willing to adapt have the highest levels of confidence in their data’s readiness for AI.

AI is only as good as the data that trains it; it relies on vast amounts of data to function effectively and provide the information that the workforce needs.

Yet most organisational data is messy, complex, and risky. According to Gartner, 47% of digital workers struggle to find information or data needed to effectively perform their jobs. Before AI, manually managing information in smaller organisations was doable. However,  AI will quickly expose an organisation's data governance vulnerabilities, pulling sensitive or private data when asked relevant questions.

This is where the role of an MSP (that helps small businesses) becomes indispensable. Guiding organisations towards proper data governance is key to ensure they can adopt emerging technologies, such as Copilot, while mitigating potential risks and keeping the organisation safe.

How can MSPs implement strong data governance measures for their clients?

The same AvePoint report found that although most organisations (80%) believe their data is ready for AI, more than half (52%) faced challenges with data quality and categorisation during implementation, highlighting a significant gap between perceived readiness and reality that must be addressed to successfully implement AI.

Firstly, MSPs can help SMBs lay the groundwork. AI operates most efficiently when it can access information from a centralised repository. If critical data remains fragmented across different locations, AI won’t be able to tap into its full potential.

It’s crucial for MSPs to guide their clients in migrating all their data into a centralised location. Simultaneously, the migration is also an opportunity to tidy up. Businesses should sift through their data, discarding redundant, obsolete, or trivial information to not only enhance the accuracy and effectiveness of AI applications but also create a more efficient workspace.

Secondly, defining the purpose of each workspace is vital. To help secure all data, MSPs must help clients determine who can access everything and who is limited to specific spaces and information. Yet this requires ongoing vigilance. Active security monitoring and regular risk assessments are crucial measures to ensure adherence to established policies, mitigating the risk of unauthorised access or data breaches.

Lastly, MSPs should help their clients implement regular spring cleaning to make sure nothing slips through the cracks– and that they are not spending an excess of fees on cloud storage. MSPs need to help clients regularly get rid of data that is no longer necessary to store (or move it to lower cost areas), to reduce cloud storage costs and mitigate risks associated with having too much information in one cloud.

Can you share an example of an MSP you’ve supported in delivering Copilot readiness?

The Instillery, an award-winning technology reseller and service integrator, partnered with AvePoint to build out a comprehensive Copilot readiness strategy. As part of the project, The Instillery needed a tool that would detect security and oversharing risks within their Microsoft 365 tenant. Deploying the AvePoint Confidence Platform ensured The Instillery was able to understand the customer's data risks with clear actions to ensure their customer Copilot implementations ran smoothly and that the right data governance strategy and permissions were in place.

Going beyond what Microsoft offers natively, AvePoint automates the entire process, saving The Instillery time and money. Furthermore, The Instillery can use all of the AvePoint solutions to streamline their approach across any sized client - from SMB to enterprise.

The Instillery also leveraged AvePoint’s Campaign in a Box Kit for Copilot, a comprehensive and easy-to-use framework to help MSPs build successful service practices, drive revenue growth, and have better conversations with their clients. By following AvePoint’s step-by-step framework, MSPs can unlock service opportunities with AvePoint, differentiate their offerings in the market, and position themselves as leaders in the industry.

Get in touch to learn more about how AvePoint supports MSPs to become an invaluable partner for AI readiness.