Windows 365 for Agents: run AI agents in Cloud PCs across real applications
Copilot agents have been talking the talk—summarizing information, drafting content, and answering questions. But soon they’ll be walking the walk—executing workflows across systems in policy-controlled Cloud PCs. With Windows 365 for Agents (now in public preview), you can run AI agents in a secure environment and use natural language to direct them to work across software and complete tasks, such as processing invoices or updating CRM data. What’s changing? It may sound like a small shift, but Windows 365 for Agents introduces a fundamentally different runtime model. For the first time, you’ll be able to automate workflows that live outside APIs across real applications—including legacy and UI-based systems—without giving up enterprise security or control. Much of today’s work still lives in browsers, desktop apps, and legacy systems—environments that assume intentional, human behavior. But agents behave differently: Humans operate intermittently and with judgment Agents can operate continuously and at scale Agents depend on IT-defined boundaries, such as identity, policy, access, and monitoring, to keep execution aligned with intended workflows. Without boundaries, agents can: Access unintended systems Act beyond their intended scope Amplify small mistakes across workflows Agents need a dedicated execution space designed for autonomous activity but governed by humans by default. Windows 365 for Agents introduces the right execution environment Windows 365 for Agents provides a dedicated Cloud PC environment that lets you define and control agents in various ways: Independently and continuously, or on demand Under your existing identity, policy, and management controls, such as Microsoft Entra ID and Intune As repeatable, multi-step workflows across real applications, including legacy and UI-based systems, within the boundaries you set Running agents in this controlled environment helps isolate risk and enforce security boundaries so act autonomously while remaining fully governed by your policies and without negatively impacting production systems. Get started with Windows 365 for Agents Interested in how this works and what Windows 365 for Agents unlocks for your environment? Read full blog, Windows 365 for Agents: run AI agents on secure cloud PCs, to learn more.Copilot agents are scaling faster than most organizations expected
Copilot agents are easy to pilot. Across organizations, teams are building agents to automate tasks, surface insights, and streamline everyday work. Early results are positive—and encouraging. One agent leads to another. Interest spreads. Adoption grows. Then a different question starts to surface: What happens when Copilot agents move beyond experiments and start to scale across the organization? That’s where things are getting more complicated. When success creates a new problem In early stages, conversations about Copilot agents focus on how to build, with questions centering on tools, prompts, and connectors. As usage expands, the challenge shifts away from delivery and toward coordination. Organizations see signals like: Multiple teams building agents independently Overlapping use cases with different risk profiles Unclear ownership as agents move into shared workflows Hesitation around approving the next agent These aren’t failures. They’re signs that agent usage is becoming meaningful enough to require intent, especially at an enterprise level. Why scale changes the conversation As Copilot agents move from isolated experiments to shared enterprise capability, the conversation shifts. The challenge is no longer just how to deliver agents, but how—and which—agents the organization should operate at scale. That shift introduces tradeoffs that rarely appear during pilot phases: How much autonomy should teams retain? Where does consistency start to matter? How should we support experimentation without creating fragmentation? How can leadership stay aligned as impact grows? Without a shared way to reason through these decisions, choices begin to outpace clarity. This is where many IT and business leaders pause. Not to stop innovation, but to ask a more fundamental question: What does “scaling well” actually look like for us? A CIO‑level framework for deliberate scale Organizations that recognize themselves at this inflection point will want to read Microsoft’s Accelerator article, A CIO framework for scaling Copilot agents—a CIO‑level perspective designed for when agent adoption begins to scale. The framework explores: What changes as agents move from pilots to enterprise capability How leadership decisions evolve with scale How to balance flexibility with coherence How to guide growth before friction sets in It’s framed for CIOs and senior IT leaders who are thinking beyond approving the next agent build, who are focusing now on aligning teams, expectations, and operating models at scale. 👉 Read the full framework on Microsoft 365 Accelerator Discussion What signals tell you it’s time to move from experimenting with agents to planning for scale? Where does agent growth create the most tension in your organization today? What’s the one decision you wish had been clearer earlier in your agent journey? Microsoft 365 Accelerator is where planning conversations go deeper. If your organization is moving from “can we build this?” to “how do we scale this responsibly?”, Accelerator is where you want to go next.Copilot Chat in financial services: Is productivity moving faster than policy?
In financial services, it's rarely the value of a new technology that slows down adoption. More often, it's when productivity starts to outpace the policies designed to govern it. That tension is beginning to surface with Copilot Chat. Teams are finding real efficiency gains—faster research, clearer summaries, better preparation—while leaders ask a different question: What does responsible, repeatable adoption look like once usage expands across regulated roles? Those conversations usually appear when Copilot Chat becomes operational enough that ad hoc decisions feel insufficient. A new post on Microsoft 365 Accelerator is designed for that exact moment. How financial leaders are scaling Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat without increasing risk introduces a planning kit that shows financial services leaders how to scale Copilot Chat usage while keeping governance, audit readiness, and oversight intact. Instead of features, the kit is focused on the decisions and guardrails that help organizations move forward and use Copilot Chat with confidence. If you’re seeing strong demand from business teams and equally strong questions from risk or compliance teams, this kind of guidance brings those conversations together. 👉 Read the full planning guidance and explore the Copilot Chat kit on Microsoft 365 Accelerator. We'd like to know: At what point did Copilot Chat usage in your organization start raising governance or policy questions? Which decisions felt easy during early experimentation but harder once Copilot Chat became more widely used? How are you thinking about ownership and oversight as Copilot Chat moves beyond individual use cases? Tell us in the comments below. If this discussion feels familiar, you’re not alone. Microsoft 365 Accelerator is designed for the next phase—when teams start asking not just can we, but how do we do this well.Copilot adoption: Move your org from pilot to production with this guide
Are you an IT admin or Copilot adoption lead ready to safely start or scale your rollout of Microsoft 365 Copilot? Piecing together the right guidance can be something of a treasure hunt so we created a trusted, single starting point for you: 8 Copilot & agent hubs every adoption leader should bookmark. This guide is organized around the typical adoption lifecycle (plan → build → operate) to help you accelerate your Copilot adoption without skipping governance. Inside the guide, you’ll learn: What each resource hub includes—and how each maps to plan → build → operate for Copilot. How to turn guidance into motion: Practical steps you can reuse for rollout and change management (not just reference links). Which resources to share with each audience—admins, champions, and business sponsors—so everyone stays aligned. How to scale with confidence: Starting points. that support a governed, production-ready Copilot program To get started, check out the full post and bookmark each resource hub today. Did you know? FastTrack helps eligible customers with Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption by providing expert guidance, self‑service resources, and structured engagements at no additional cost. If your adoption program could use a boost, FastTrack can help. Visit the Microsoft 365 Accelerator site for Copilot quickstart guides, governance templates, and adoption kits—or submit a request for personalized deployment and change management assistance (RFA) from FastTrack today.The Copilot resource guide to share with your employees
From customers driving Microsoft Copilot adoption, one request we hear a lot is: “Can you send me to a simple starting place?” Now we can. Essential Copilot resource hubs for employees is a trusted, easy-to-share guide that rounds up key Microsoft-owned Copilot learning and support hubs. It's designed to help you speed up Copilot onboarding and get your employees building good habits from day one. How to use it with end users Adoption leaders: Use the hubs to structure learning paths (new user onboarding, prompting basics, role-based scenarios) and reinforce them in champions and community programs. IT admins: Add a link to the guide in your rollout emails, intranet, and helpdesk macros so employees have a consistent “start here” link. Everyone: Share this as one source of truth, then keep your internal guidance focused on what’s unique to your organization (policies, approved use cases, and where to get help). For more information about this simple approach that scales, read the guide: Essential Copilot resource hubs for employees Need help? FastTrack helps eligible customers with Microsoft 365 Copilot adoption by providing expert guidance, self‑service resources, and structured engagements at no additional cost. If your adoption program could use a boost, visit the Microsoft 365 Accelerator site for Copilot quickstart guides, governance templates, and adoption kits. Or, submit a request for personalized deployment and change management assistance (RFA) from FastTrack today.Ready to accelerate your Zero Trust journey? Discover what’s next
For admins | 1-minute read Zero Trust isn’t just a security buzzword—it’s the new baseline for protecting your organization in a world where threats are always evolving. But what does it really take to move from strategy to action? Find out by reading our recent blog, Accelerate your Zero Trust journey: Using the Microsoft Zero Trust workshop for impact on the M365 Accelerator site. In it, we break down some of the real-world challenges IT admins face and show how this hands-on workshop can help you build a clear roadmap forward. For example, learn how you can use the workshop to: Assess and improve your security posture by evaluating your organization’s current security maturity across six critical Zero Trust pillars (Identity, Devices, Data, Network, Infrastructure, Security Operations), identify gaps, and prioritize actions for improvement. Drive cross-team alignment and executive buy-in by bringing together stakeholders from security, infrastructure, networking, and compliance for communication, consensus building, and creating a data-driven roadmap that resonates with leadership. Turn security strategy into actionable results with practical steps for leveraging the Zero Trust Workshop to transform security from a reactive task into a proactive, strategic advantage for your organization. Next steps Ready to move beyond theory and see how Microsoft’s approach can help you secure identities, apps, and data? Then Accelerate your Zero Trust journey is your next must-read. Get the full story and workshop details here.Governing Copilot agents: Your next step starts here
For those of you navigating this shift, Rob Howard, Microsoft’s VP of Product Management for Microsoft 365 Copilot Extensibility, offers a practical governance framework in his article, What IT admins need to know about governing AI agents. The article introduces three key governance pillars: Security controls using Microsoft Purview. Management controls through admin centers and deployment planning. Agent reporting to monitor usage and stay ahead of compliance. You’ll also get a first look at governance zones—a planning model to help segment Copilot deployment based on your organization’s risk tolerance and data sensitivity. Think sandbox, controlled, and trusted zones, with guidance on how to phase rollout. What else you’ll find: A checklist to assess your readiness. Real-world examples of phased deployment. Links to tools you already use, like Purview, Power Platform admin center, and Microsoft 365 admin center. A preview of the upcoming white paper and webinar. Next Steps Ready to securely and strategically lead your organization into the future of AI? Read Rob’s blog today for reliable advice on governing Copilot agents. It’s part of a broader initiative by FastTrack for Microsoft 365 to support IT admins with actionable, admin-relevant content on governing Copilot AI agents—so stay tuned for future articles, webinars, and more on the topic!Bring AI out of the shadows with agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat
For IT admins and Microsoft 365 admins 7-minute read Overview Shadow AI is almost certainly happening across your organization—whether you can see it or not. Employees are using tools like ChatGPT and Notion AI to get work done, even without organizational knowledge or approval. This creates real risks like data leakage, compliance violations, and a lack of visibility into how employees are using artificial intelligence. Fortunately, IT admins are in a unique position to fix the problem at its core. Today's article is intended to be a practical playbook for helping IT admins lead the charge toward responsible AI use in their organizations by empowering secure, compliant, and easy-to-manage agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat. What is shadow AI? Like shadow IT, the term ‘shadow AI’ exists for a reason: it refers to unsanctioned, often hidden, use of AI tools. In the shadows, artificial intelligence can be hard to detect and even harder to govern. Tools can be browser-based, embedded in SaaS apps, or used on personal devices. Controls that mitigate shadow IT—like app blocking or firewall rules—don’t necessarily translate to AI use. Both shadow IT and shadow AI involve technical and behavioral elements, however unauthorized use of AI presents deeper behavioral challenges beyond unauthorized tools. These challenges center around how users make decisions and potentially bypass governance in ways that are harder to detect and control. While employees may not want to go rogue or bypass IT—and they generally don’t want to put the organization at risk—they do want to get their work done efficiently. They turn to public AI tools when they can’t find the capabilities they need inside the tools they have permission to use. Agents for Microsoft 365 Copilot Chat give you a way to lead AI use into the light and meet your users’ needs with modern AI business tools. By building and deploying task-specific, data-grounded chat experiences that live inside Microsoft 365, users get fast, relevant answers they’re looking for without having to step into the shadows and leave the secure environment you manage. These agents are part of the broader Microsoft 365 Copilot ecosystem and are designed to automate and execute business processes directly within Copilot Chat. Should you ignore or even allow shadow AI? When employees use public AI tools without oversight, they create risks that are harder to detect, harder to govern, and harder to reverse. For IT admins, the stakes are high for operational, security, and technical risks: Loss of visibility and control: You can’t protect what you can’t see. Shadow AI obscures oversight. It’s harder to track usage or enforce policies for tools used outside your environment. No centralized monitoring = no control. Without a unified view, you can’t troubleshoot issues, optimize usage, or step in when something goes wrong. Shadow data silos emerge. Generative AI content created outside your tenant isn’t retained or governed, which complicates lifecycle management, legal holds, and compliance requests. Security and compliance risks Enterprise-grade protections are lacking. Most public AI tools don’t support conditional access, audit logs, or data loss prevention (DLP) policies, leaving you with blind spots and increased risk of data leaks. Sensitive data exposure. Employees may unknowingly input proprietary or regulated data into public models, risking violations of GDPR, HIPAA, or internal policies. Compliance gaps. If tools aren’t tracked or documented, they increase the burden of proving compliance and can become major liabilities during audits or regulatory reviews. IT and governance challenges IT is out of the loop. Adoption of unauthorized AI tools sidelines IT, preventing teams from recommending secure, supported alternatives or aligning tools with organizational standards. When users go rogue with AI tools, they aren't using recommended secure, supported options that align with your environment and policies. Tool sprawl = more support tickets. Unapproved tools often lack integration with existing systems, creating support burdens and increasing the risk of misconfigurations. Bottom line: Allowing or ignoring shadow AI will make it much harder to manage later. That’s why Copilot Chat agents, combined with strong governance and user education, are such a powerful response: they give you a way to meet end user demand without losing control. What IT admins are up against When it comes to eradicating rogue AI, admins have their work cut out for them. Here’s a summary table of how activating Copilot Chat agents at your organization can help stem the tide: Unsanctioned AI use contributes to: How to stem the problem: Loss of visibility and control Employees use unsanctioned AI tools. Reframe shadow AI as a signal Offer sanctioned tools that meet user needs and bring AI usage into the light. Data governance gaps Unapproved tools bypass DLP and compliance policies. Keep data in your tenant Copilot agents respect Microsoft 365 compliance, identity, and data boundaries. Inconsistent AI use across teams Different tools create fragmented workflows. Centralize AI access Deploy agents across Teams and Microsoft 365 to unify usage. Security and compliance risks Shadow tools may not meet regulatory standards. Use enterprise-grade protection Copilot agents are authenticated with Azure AD and governed by Microsoft Purview. Lack of deployment clarity Admins may not know where to start. Follow a clear blueprint This blog outlines steps for setup, governance, and scaling. Missed innovation opportunities IT is seen as a blocker, not a partner. Support safe innovation Let business units build AI chat agents with IT guardrails in place. Copilot Chat agents remove the roadblocks to getting value from AI Microsoft's chat agents aren’t just another AI tool—they’re designed to work the way IT works. Secure by design: Agents run inside your Microsoft 365 tenant and authenticate through Azure AD. Compliant by default: They respect DLP and audit policies and retention through Microsoft Purview. Customizable and governable: You can define access, data sources, and usage policies. Easy to deploy: Agents live inside Teams and Microsoft apps, so users don’t need to install anything new. Copilot Chat agents strengthen governance While Copilot for Microsoft 365 helps users work more efficiently inside apps like Word, Excel, and Teams, Copilot's AI agents go a step further. They give IT the ability to create task-specific, role-based, and data-grounded AI experiences that directly replace the kinds of tools employees might otherwise seek out on their own. Key deployment benefits for IT admins Benefit Impact Visibility Know who’s using AI, how, and with what data. Control Define and enforce usage policies. Compliance Align AI use with regulatory standards. Efficiency Reduce support tickets with self-service agents. Innovation Empower business units without losing oversight. Take the next step Like shadow IT, you may not get rid of shadow AI completely or overnight. But you can meet it head-on with tools that work for your users and comply with your policies. Start by deploying a few AI Chat agents in high-impact areas. Use the resources in this article to guide your rollout. With Copilot Chat agents, you’re not just solving a technical problem. You’re leading your organization toward safer, smarter AI adoption. Tools that make it easier When it comes to Microsoft 365 deployments, you’re never alone. FastTrack for Microsoft 365 offers a full set of resources to help you learn about, build, manage, and instruct end users on Copilot Chat agents: Credentialed access, sign in required: Microsoft 365 advanced deployment guides and assistance Microsoft 365 Copilot onboarding hub Microsoft 365 Copilot: Quickstart, Copilot Chat licensing Open access, no sign-in required: Get started with Microsoft 365 Copilot extensibility Microsoft 365 Copilot ADG: Streamlining your Copilot journey (video) Copilot Chat Success Kit – Microsoft Adoption Microsoft Copilot AI setup and usage guides AI in business: Artificial intelligence tools & solutions (blog) Request assistance from FastTrack Deployment blueprint: Get started today Remember: You don’t need to roll out everything at once. Start small, build momentum, and scale responsibly. Here’s a blueprint that will get you to the finish line: Copilot Chat agent deployment checklist Step 1: Prepare your environment ☐ Set up Copilot Studio and review licensing. ☐ Create Power Platform environments that reflect your data boundaries and governance needs. ☐ Identify early declarative agent use cases (e.g., HR FAQs, IT help desk). Note: Only declarative agents are currently supported in Copilot Chat. Agents that access tenant data (e.g., SharePoint, Graph) require pay-as-you-go billing. Step 2: Define governance policies ☐ Use role-based access control (RBAC) to manage who can create, publish, and use agents. ☐ Apply naming conventions, approval workflows, and publishing guidelines. ☐ Set up guardrails for data access, agent behavior, and knowledge sources. ☐ Assign maker permissions via Microsoft Entra groups or Copilot Studio user licenses. Step 3: Deploy and monitor ☐ Use the Microsoft admin center and Power Platform admin center to manage billing and access. ☐ Monitor usage with audit logs, analytics, and the Copilot Control System. ☐ Identify which teams are still using unauthorized AI tools and guide them toward approved Copilot agents. Step 4: Support and scale ☐ Offer training, templates, and office hours to support agent creators and users. ☐ Establish a Center of Excellence (CoE) to share best practices and governance. ☐ Highlight successful use cases to drive adoption and build momentum. ☐ Encourage feedback loops to refine agent behavior and expand scenarios. Shadow AI prevention checklist What else should you do to discourage shadow AI? Here's a handy checklist of actions to take: Data protection ☐ Apply Microsoft Purview DLP policies to monitor and restrict sensitive data. ☐ Use sensitivity labels and encryption to protect data at rest and in transit. ☐ Set up conditional access policies to limit AI tool usage by role, device, or location. Acceptable use ☐ Publish clear guidance on approved AI tools and data usage. ☐ Include AI-specific clauses in acceptable use and security policies. ☐ Reinforce policies through onboarding, training, and regular reminders. Monitoring and detection ☐ Use Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps (MCAS) to detect unsanctioned AI usage. ☐ Analyze browser traffic and app usage patterns for high-risk behavior. ☐ Set up alerts for uploads to known AI endpoints (e.g., ChatGPT, Claude). Education and empowerment ☐ Run awareness campaigns about shadow AI risks and approved alternatives. ☐ Offer training on how to use Copilot and Copilot Chat agents effectively. ☐ Create a feedback loop for users to request new AI capabilities. Internal partnerships ☐ Collaborate with HR, legal, and other teams to understand AI needs. ☐ Support business units in building Copilot Chat agents with IT oversight. ☐ Use shadow AI behavior as a signal for unmet needs and prioritize accordingly. Governance alignment ☐ Align Copilot deployment with your organization’s responsible AI principles. ☐ Document how Copilot Chat agents support ethical and regulatory standards. ☐ Use audit logs and analytics to support transparency and accountability.Driving adoption and measuring impact with the Microsoft 365 Copilot Dashboard
Since 2023, nearly 70% of Fortune 500 companies have integrated Microsoft 365 Copilot’s advanced AI into their daily workflows, unlocking new efficiencies and streamlining collaboration—and they’re seeing measurable business impact. For example, Vodafone discovered employees who use Copilot save an average of 3 hours per week, reclaiming 10% of their workweek. Lumen Technologies estimates that using Copilot will help their sales teams save $50 million per year. These are game-changing outcomes. But how do these companies know their numbers are accurate? And how did they achieve them? The key to maximizing the value of AI-driven productivity tools is more than simply licensing your end users and waiting for them to make the most of it. In fact, the key lies in measuring its impact. To drive meaningful adoption and maximize ROI with Microsoft 365 Copilot, organizational leaders need clear visibility into how their workforces are using it. This means understanding: Who’s adopting AI with Copilot. How effectively is Copilot supporting workflows. What measurable productivity gains are users achieving. In this article, business leaders and IT can learn more about the Microsoft 365 Copilot dashboard, including its key features and core metrics. We'll also go over IT's tasks for configuring the dashboard and granting access to business leaders so they can analyze Copilot usage patterns themselves, refine their Copilot engagement strategies, and help drive productivity gains in their teams and throughout the organization. What is the Copilot Dashboard? The Microsoft Copilot Dashboard is a tool in Viva Insights that helps IT, business leaders, change managers, and other non-technical stakeholders track usage of Microsoft 365 Copilot with practical insights they can use to: Prepare users to work effectively with AI Drive Copilot adoption across teams Measure impact on workplace behavior Key features and core metrics of the Copilot Dashboard With a Viva Insights license, your unlock advanced dashboard features, including: Comprehensive Metrics A 28-day aggregated view of Copilot usage, adoption, readiness, and impact, to help you understand engagement and Copilot business value. Readiness tracking Based on Microsoft 365 app usage patterns, these metrics can help you identify which teams are ready to adopt AI into their daily workflows and which may need additional support, training or upskilling. Adoption insights With adoption insights, dashboard users can track active Copilot usage patterns within each Microsoft 365 app to measure how effectively teams are integrating Copilot into workflows. They can also pinpoint areas where Copilot users may need training or support to maximize productivity. By default, the dashboard’s Adoption trendline shows the prior six-month trend for all users in the organization. You can adjust filters at the top of the page for specific groups. Impact analysis This insight allows you to analyze how often employees in your organization use Copilot during a specified time period. Leaders can also measure productivity gains through metrics like meeting efficiency, email usage, and document collaboration. Advanced tools, such as before-and-after behavioral data and employee surveys, can reveal early and even deeper insights into Copilot’s organizational impact. Learning opportunities Use qualitative feedback data from Copilot impact pulse surveys to identify Copilot satisfaction levels, challenges, and areas for improvement. For example, you can compare high-adoption teams with low-adoption ones to uncover training or awareness gaps. Managing the Copilot Dashboard: Key admin responsibilities Global admins play a critical role in configuring and managing the Copilot Dashboard. Their roles include: Setting up and configuring the Copilot Dashboard. Granting access and supporting business stakeholders. Integrating data. 1. Setting up and configuring the Microsoft 365 Copilot Dashboard Global IT admins are responsible for setting up and configuring the Copilot Dashboard to align with organizational goals and requirements. This includes managing settings and turning features on and off as needed. 2. Granting access and supporting business stakeholders Admins, you'll also need to assign permissions to specific leaders, stakeholders, or groups through the Microsoft 365 admin center or PowerShell. Make sure stakeholders in different roles have the correct permissions. You'll also play a critical role in supporting and troubleshooting issues that users might encounter, such as technical problems and related assistance. Who should have access to the Copilot Dashboard? Business leaders You can view engagement and adoption metrics directly and make informed decisions about how best to guide users on adopting Copilot. Department heads You'll want to monitor how your teams are using Copilot and identify areas for improvement. IT managers You'll need to oversee the technical aspects of Copilot deployment and ensure smooth operations. HR Managers Track employee sentiment and impact metrics for workforce planning and development. How do admins grant access to the Copilot Dashboard? You can delegate and manage access for individuals or groups to the dashboard in two different ways: 1. The Microsoft 365 admin center Access the Copilot Dashboard here or Sign in to Microsoft 365 admin center Navigate to the Settings tab Select Setup Go to the Copilot Dashboard to Manage access settings. From there you can search for and select users to grant or revoke access. Manage access for groups by selecting the Groups option, searching for Entra ID groups, and adding or removing users as needed. 2. PowerShell Viva Insights admins can delegate access to organizational insights and the Copilot Dashboard using PowerShell. Set policies to enable or disable access to the dashboard at the tenant level using PowerShell cmdlets. This method gives you more granular control. Use it to manage access for larger groups or the entire organization. Note: You can only delegate access to users with a Viva Insights license. Viva Insights is available as part of the Microsoft Viva Suite or as a standalone add-on to Microsoft 365 enterprise plans. How do business stakeholders access the Copilot Dashboard? Business stakeholders, you can access the Microsoft 365 Copilot Dashboard through your Teams Viva Insights app. 3. Integrating organizational data into the dashboard Admins will upload organizational data directly through the admin center and configure it for analysis. If both the Viva Insights admin and the Global admin upload data, the dashboard will merge these uploads and display insights based on the most recent data. Empowering business stakeholders with insights they can act on Microsoft 365 Copilot is transforming productivity, and metrics powered by Viva Insights are proving its impact to the world. Access the Copilot Dashboard today for yourself and unlock Copilot’s full potential for driving organizational success. Learn more For more information on connecting to the Copilot Dashboard for Microsoft 365 customers, watch our recent video, AI Transformation: Maximize the value of Copilot with Copilot Dashboard and check out our article: Connect to the Microsoft Copilot Dashboard for Microsoft 365 customers | Microsoft Learn. Need more assistance? FastTrack is here to help! FastTrack is available to support customers with eligible licenses. Request assistance from FastTrack today or contact your assigned FastTrack Architect (FTA).Deploy Microsoft Defender XDR today and start protecting your entire digital estate
The average organization now hosts 351 exploitable attack pathways, says Microsoft’s 2024 State of Multicloud Security Risk Report 1 , so it’s no wonder leaders across sectors are calling for enhanced protection of high-value assets within applications, email, endpoints, identity, and more. But deploying a comprehensive security solution like Microsoft Defender XDR can be a big lift, especially in organizations using legacy systems or a mix of third-party tools. Complex integrations and configurations combined with common issues like limited staffing resources can further delay or even prevent full product implementation. Fortunately, FastTrack for Microsoft 365 is ready to help streamline your security product deployment and today we’ll explain how. In this blog, you’ll learn: Why Microsoft Defender platform adds value beyond security. How to deploy Microsoft Defender efficiently and securely using Microsoft admin center advanced deployment guides. Answers to FAQs. Microsoft Defender: The industry leading 2 , XDR solution with added value Microsoft Defender protects your entire organization with a unified security platform that consolidates multiple security functions (e.g., endpoint, identity, cloud security) under a single tool. This comprehensive coverage creates overlapping security, which strengthens overall security and helps reduce workloads for security and IT teams. And while in some cases, transitioning security systems can create vulnerabilities in the short term, FastTrack engineers at Microsoft have solved for this by providing incremental security coverage as you wind down third-party point solutions. We’ll describe this in more detail later on but first let’s go over the Microsoft Defender platform. The Microsoft Defender platform: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Helps prevent, detect, investigate, and respond to advanced threats with next-gen antivirus, endpoint detection response (EDR), automated investigation, and prioritized remediation capabilities. Microsoft Defender for Endpoint setup guide Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Protects email and collaboration tools like SharePoint, OneDrive, and Microsoft Teams against advanced threats, i.e., phishing, business email compromise, and malware attacks. Microsoft Defender for Office 365 setup guide Microsoft Defender for Identity Protects on-premises Active Directory from targeted attacks with signals that identify, detect, and investigate compromised identities and malicious insider actions. Microsoft Defender for Identity setup guide Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps A Cloud Access Security Broker (CASB) that uses rich visibility, control over data travel, and sophisticated analytics to identify and combat cyber threats across cloud services. Gain visibility into Shadow IT, discover cloud apps in use, control and protect data within apps, and detect and respond to threats across all potential threat vectors. Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps setup guide Microsoft Defender XDR, powered by AI, integrates seamlessly with other Microsoft 365 products and security tools Seamless integration provides for stronger, more consistent, automated security across the entire software ecosystem. For example: Microsoft Defender is embedded with Microsoft Sentinel Microsoft Sentinel is a new FastTrack offering. It’s a very powerful cloud-native, AI-powered security information and event management (SIEM) solution that helps teams address top cyberthreats, including ransomware attacks, by: Enriching data with machine learning: Sentinel employs machine learning to enrich data with Microsoft's threat intelligence, the secret ingredient that fuels capabilities, including threat hunting, detecting, investigating, and responding to threats across an ecosystem. Reducing “alert fatigue”: Sentinel filters through billions of signals, correlates them into alerts and incidents, and even prioritizes incidents. This allows for more efficient and cost-effective remediation strategies and reduced alert fatigue for SOC teams. Microsoft Defender integrates with Azure’s Microsoft Defender for Cloud Microsoft Defender for Cloud is a cloud-native application protection platform (CNAPP) that secures full-stack workloads, end to end, across Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Azure Cloud Services with constant cyberthreat monitoring at the code level. How to deploy Microsoft Defender security products efficiently and securely Because each organization’s deployment scenario will be as unique as the organization itself, Microsoft engineers designed Defender to be highly customizable and able to accommodate a variety of different scenarios. However, no one should let complexities surrounding custom configurations delay deployment. FastTrack for Microsoft 365 is here to help With a variety of self-serve resources, detailed documentation, automated, step-by-step deployment guides, and even one-on-one assistance (with an eligible license), FastTrack can help you reduce complexity and get your Microsoft Defender products up-and-running quickly. Here’s how to start: 1. Visit the Microsoft 365 Setup site Regardless of license status or credentials, start your journey at the Microsoft 365 Setup site for open, self-service access to detailed setup guides, on-demand videos, and helpful blogs to plan secure and efficient Microsoft Defender deployment workloads. 2. Sign in to the Microsoft admin center Once your organization owns a license and you’re ready to deploy, sign in to the Microsoft admin center and access Microsoft Defender advanced deployment and setup guides. 3. Deploy using Microsoft Defender advance deployment guides Start with zero trust Microsoft Defender for Endpoint setup guide Microsoft Defender for Office 365 setup guide Microsoft Defender for Identity setup guide Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps setup guide These streamlined, automated guides combine detailed documentation with stateful personalization, so you know you’re following the right instructions for your organization’s scenario. The step-by-step instructions also lead you through the correct order of operations so you can be confident you’re setting up each Microsoft Defender solution correctly, from beginning to end. Microsoft Defender setup guides: What to expect once you get there Each Microsoft Defender setup guide follows a similar pattern. They begin with an Overview, describing foundational prerequisites and Requirements, then have you identify your organization’s particular Scenario and goals, before walking you through your recommended Deployment and Configuration steps based on your scenario and Microsoft’s best practices. Let’s walk through the Microsoft Defender for Endpoint guide as an example: Microsoft Defender for Endpoint setup guide Arrive at Overview (see above) to learn more about the Defender setup guide and watch a short video. Follow the subway navigation and review Microsoft Defender for Endpoint’s minimum setup requirements to make sure you’re ready for a secure setup experience before you begin. At Scenario, identify your organization’s current security situation and your goals, for example: Do you already have an endpoint security solution in place? Would you like to see how Defender for Endpoint works before rolling it out? Do you want help designing configurations? At Deployment, find Microsoft’s recommended next steps based on your Scenario. These steps include: Preparation: Key points to consider as you prepare for migration. Setup: Guidance on which specific steps you should carry out next. Onboarding to your tenant: Advice on how to onboard while protecting other platforms in your environment. 5. Lastly, Configuration is where you’ll configure various settings and learn more about: Attack surface reduction Mobile threat defense Next-generation protection Auto remediation and investigation Microsoft Secure Score Endpoint detection and response Threat and vulnerability management Frequently asked questions Transitioning to or implementing a new security suite can be tricky. However, Microsoft Defender setup guides have been designed to eliminate as much risk and friction as possible from the deployment process. They also do a great job of anticipating and addressing questions admins frequently ask. Here are a few frequently asked questions and answers: How do I securely migrate to Microsoft Defender for Office 365? Read this Learn article to understand securely migrating from a third-party protection service or device to Microsoft Defender for Office 365. How should I deal with urgent security incident response issues? Get a better understanding of the complex threats affecting your organization. Subscribers to Defender Experts for Hunting can engage with their own security incident response teams to address urgent security incident response issues. Where can I go to learn how to fix onboarding issues myself? Microsoft Defender for Endpoint Microsoft Defender for Identity Microsoft Defender for Office 365 Microsoft Defender for Cloud Apps 4. Does Microsoft offer training for Microsoft Defender? Yes! To get started with Microsoft Defender training, browse the list of learning paths, and filter by product, role, level, and subject. Need additional assistance? Whether you have a few questions or want assistance with deployment of your entire Microsoft Defender suite, FastTrack Engineers and Partners are ready to help. Eligible customers can request direct, remote assistance from FastTrack for Microsoft 365. [1] Microsoft’s 2024 State of Multicloud Security Report [2] Microsoft Defender was named an XDR leader in The Forrester Wave: XDR platforms, Q2 2024, receiving top scores in 15 of 22 criteria, including Endpoint Detection, Threat Hunting, and Innovation.
