Microsoft Copilot Makes Data Governance More Important Than Ever
One of the biggest concerns I hear from customers considering Copilot is the possibility that the technology will surface information employees aren’t supposed to see.
Think about how people traditionally used OneDrive and SharePoint. An employee might save a document somewhere, assuming it was effectively in their own corner of the environment. But depending on how permissions and sharing policies were configured, other people may have had access to that information all along, even without knowing it.
That was never a problem before. Employees weren’t routinely searching across everyone else’s files. Copilot changes that dynamic. It can look across all available information to find what it needs to answer a user’s question.
That creates some potentially uncomfortable scenarios. A user might discover a presentation they didn’t know existed, internal comments about coworkers or even compensation information they were never intended to see.
This is why organizations need to answer some basic questions before deploying Microsoft Copilot: Who should have access to particular files? Which documents contain sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information, financial data or intellectual property? Should certain files be encrypted or restricted from being shared? And are there types of information that Copilot shouldn’t be allowed to surface?
For small businesses, answering those questions can be difficult when the IT team is already stretched thin. That’s where Microsoft Purview can help.
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Microsoft Purview Provides AI Data Governance and Security Guardrails
Microsoft Purview provides information protection and governance capabilities that can help organizations establish those guardrails. It can apply sensitivity labels, encryption and other protections to information stored throughout Microsoft 365, including OneDrive, SharePoint and Teams.
One particularly useful capability is automatic labeling. Purview can help identify what type of information a file contains and apply appropriate policies. It can also help manage access as employees move between groups or roles, reducing the amount of manual work required from IT.
The important thing to understand is that Microsoft Purview isn’t exclusively a Copilot tool. These are data governance practices organizations should have in place regardless of whether they’re using AI. Copilot simply makes the consequences of poor governance much more apparent.
And Purview isn’t something you simply turn on and expect to work by itself. Organizations need to configure policies and determine how they want classification, permissions and protection to work in their environments.
That’s why I recommend getting this work done before deploying Copilot rather than trying to untangle permissions afterward. It’s like setting up a volleyball net: It’s much easier to install it when the net is fresh and organized than to try to untangle one that’s been sitting in a pile.
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For many small businesses, getting that foundation in place may require some help. CDW offers governance workshops and subject matter expertise that can help organizations configure Purview, make better use of their Microsoft subscriptions and establish a foundation they can maintain after the initial deployment.
It’s also worth approaching Copilot as a measured rollout rather than assuming that everyone needs the same thing immediately. Many organizations are starting with a smaller group of users and using that pilot to establish appropriate policies, determine how employees are using Copilot and make sure they’re getting value from the investment.
Training is another important part of that process. CDW’s Copilot QuickStart can help users learn best practices, while Inscape can provide training and help administrators understand how users are engaging with Copilot.
The goal is to make sure employees can use AI productively and responsibly — with the right information, the right permissions and the right guardrails already in place.
