AI Software
Copilot
Microsoft Copilot for M365 Business Plans
The right license for Microsoft Copilot depends on which Microsoft 365 plan your business runs today and what your team needs to succeed:
- Copilot Chat – Included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions for users who sign in with a Microsoft Entra work or school account
- Microsoft 365 Copilot Business – An add-on license for businesses with up to 300 users on Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, Apps for business or Teams Essentials, sold on an annual commitment
- Business Standard and Business Premium with Copilot – Bundled plans that pair each Microsoft 365 tier with Copilot for up to 300 users, with Business Premium adding device management and threat protection
- Microsoft 365 E3 and E5 plans – Microsoft 365 E3, E5, F1 or F3 and Office 365 E1, E3, E5 or F3 subscribers add Microsoft 365 Copilot separately, which is also the path for tenants above 300 users
- Microsoft 365 E7 – Includes Microsoft 365 Copilot alongside Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft Entra Suite and Agent 365 in a single per-user license
- Usage-based billing – Select advanced experiences, including Copilot Cowork, carry usage charges in Copilot Credits that admins track through Cost Management in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center
Copilot Chat vs Microsoft 365 Copilot
Copilot Chat and the paid Microsoft 365 Copilot license differ in the data sources they read, the M365 apps where they appear and the agents included with each. While the former is available with any individual Microsoft 365 plan and provides most basic features, the latter offers more in-depth integration, automation and functionality within your M365 tenant:
| Feature | Copilot Chat | Microsoft 365 Copilot |
| Cost | Included with eligible Microsoft 365 subscriptions | Paid add-on license or a business plan bundled with Copilot |
| Data sources | Web data, plus work content you upload or have open in Outlook or Teams | Web data and work data from Microsoft Graph |
| Where it appears | Microsoft Copilot app, Microsoft Edge and chat in Outlook and Teams | Inside Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Outlook and Teams |
| Agents | Agents built on instructions and public websites, plus pay-as-you-go agents for work data | Prebuilt Researcher, Analyst and Facilitator agents |
| Reporting | Copilot Chat usage reports | Copilot usage reports, advanced admin controls and analytics |
Microsoft 365 Copilot Setup
Copilot integration relies on the identity, mailbox and storage services in your existing Microsoft 365 tenant, which means that implementation and setup requires these items to be place before it can be deployed successfully:
- Eligible base license – A qualifying Microsoft 365 or Office 365 subscription for every user who receives the add-on
- Microsoft Entra ID account – A work or school sign-in for each user, since guest and cross-tenant users cannot be licensed
- Exchange Online mailbox – A primary mailbox hosted in Exchange Online for email, calendar and meeting features, as on-premises mailboxes do not qualify
- OneDrive account – An active OneDrive account for each user, which some features require
- Network access – Firewall rules that allow the full *.cloud.microsoft domain alongside other Microsoft 365 endpoints
Copilot Security
Microsoft 365 Copilot comes equipped with existing security controls that help you protect your data down to the user level, but they need to be implemented and managed effectively to guarantee the widest coverage possible. Each assistant will run as the signed-in user, so it only returns content tied to each employee’s permission to open in SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange and Microsoft Teams.
Enterprise Data Protection applies when users sign in with Microsoft Entra accounts, and Microsoft does not use your prompts, responses or Microsoft Graph data to train its foundation models. Admins also control whether Copilot grounds answers in web search, while Microsoft Purview and SharePoint Advanced Management help you find and restrict overshared content.
Plan Your Copilot Implementation with a Microsoft Partner
Microsoft Copilot enables your team to take even greater advantage of your Microsoft 365 apps and connect your disparate data trapped in silos. However, adopting AI without a plan leaves you with no insight over what data the assistant reads or what users share through it. As a Microsoft partner and reseller, SWK Technologies will work with your team to set up Microsoft Copilot for the users who need it, help you manage security controls and governance policies, and prepare your Microsoft 365 tenant before the first seats go live:
- Licensing and seat management – Discounted Microsoft 365 pricing through SWK, with Copilot seats managed alongside the rest of your user licenses
- Tenant assessment – A look at permissions, sensitivity labels, data loss prevention policies and Conditional Access before Copilot reaches your users
- Content governance – Microsoft Purview policies that label sensitive files, keep sensitive information out of prompts and log assistant activity, managed by SWK as adoption grows and matched to the Purview features in your plan
- Identity protection – Multifactor authentication and Conditional Access policies that carry over to every Copilot session
- Managed Microsoft 365 support – Ongoing support for Teams, SharePoint, OneDrive, Exchange and the rest of your Microsoft 365 subscription after implementation