I tried to use Microsoft Bing Copilot to write this article, but it was useless. So, here’s the real scoop.
Microsoft Copilot was introduced March 2023 and promises to unburden humans from tasks that AI/LLM can easily do for us and ‘unleash our productivity!’
“Today marks the next major step in the evolution of how we interact with computing, which will fundamentally change the way we work and unlock a new wave of productivity growth,” said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft. “With our new copilot for work, we’re giving people more agency and making technology more accessible through the most universal interface — natural language.”
Not sure why Satya uses the word ‘giving’ above….maybe he is referencing the free trial period? After that however, it’s $30/per user/per month. As the headline in this CNBC article points out, Microsoft never ‘gives’ you anything:
Copilot is not going to solve your information problems (at least, not this version… we can all hope for the future). None of this is a surprise, of course. Copilot is a version 1.0 product. Give it time, the AI / LLM tools will get better. The art and science of “training” LLM’s will mature and yield better, more precise results.
I’m sure it won’t be long until you can just click a button and Copilot for Microsoft 365 ™ runs your entire business for you. Just stand by and keep paying those monthly subscription fees!
Until then, your existing challenges remain:
- You’re still going to have massive, disorganized, and rapidly aging Sharepoint and OneDrive archives full of documents that no-one reads. And yes, you might be forced to pay monthly subscription fees for all that excess data.
- Your end users are still going to email attachments around, instead of co-editing online (a feature that’s been around for over a decade now). And yes, you might be forced to pay monthly subscription fees for all that excess email data.
- Knowledge workers are still going to spend more hours per day coordinating calendars and searching for information than actual productive work. This is one area where current tools are really good, but few people are using them effectively.
- Your people will still be attending endless meetings, whether in person or via Teams. Some of the meetings are important and useful.
- You will still be paying for third party tools and people to analyze your data and glean some useful business insights.
- You will still be buying Windows PC and laptops, with all the cost and risk they bring, in the year 2024.
If you would prefer to reduce or mitigate the above realities without waiting on Microsoft and OpenAI to get their act together, perhaps consider some of these ideas to ease your digital transformation:
- Instill a corporate culture that is biased toward finding and using best practices in tech use for individuals.
- Reward people who become more productive using the tech you already have versus buying new unproven products.
- Train your rank and file on the cool new features they have but are not using, such as real time co-editing of online documents.
- Discourage risky and time-consuming habits such as emailing Excel files around, instead of sharing read-only access to a web document.
- Investigate and pilot test some of the many permutations of non-Windows based end user computing.
- In your annual budget, allocate some % for “research and development” so your IT staff has time and money to investigate better solutions and methods.
In summary, before contributing even more to Microsoft’s coffers, try the above options first. You are more than likely already paying for tools that can make your organization more productive and just not fully utilizing them. That coupled with the right incentives, you might be amazed at what your people can do with what they already have.
In the meantime, if you are trying Copilot, drop me a line – I’d love to know how it’s going for you!
About NET(net)
Founded in 2002, NET(net) is the world’s leading IT Investment Optimization firm, helping clients find, get, and keep more economic and strategic value in their technology supply chains. Over the last 20 years, NET(net) has influenced trillions of investment, captured hundreds of billions of value, and has helped clients cost and value optimize all major areas of IT Spend, including XaaS, Cloud, Hardware, Software, Services, Healthcare, Outsourcing, Infrastructure, and Telecommunications, among others. NET(net) has the experience you want, demonstrates the expertise that you need, and delivers the performance you demand and deserve. Contact us at info@netnetweb.com, visit us online at www.netnetweb.com, or call us at +1 (616) 546-3100 to see if we can help you capture more value in your IT investments, agreements, deployments, and relationships.
NET(net)’s Website/Blogs/Articles and other content is subject to NET(net)’s legal terms, offered for general information purposes only, and while NET(net) may offer views and opinions regarding the subject matter, such views and opinions are not intended to malign or disparage any other company or other individual or group.
