Microsoft 365 governance: "AI opens Pandora's box"

Do you recognize the following scenario? On a beautiful Monday morning, you open SharePoint to find a folder that has fallen into oblivion. In it you will find a pile of salary data that was created a long time ago. You discover that this data has been accessible to everyone for years, without anyone being aware of it.

Such a situation is of course absolutely not desirable. And while this risk has been on the radar for some time since the introduction of Microsoft 365 Copilot, it's still highly relevant. Because information that employees have access to can surface much faster and easier via Copilot. This makes existing problems with access rights and sensitive information a lot more visible.

This means that Microsoft 365 governance is no longer a 'mandatory issue'. "Previously, it was a tick that organizations had to tick," says Dave Lancée, product owner at Wortell. "Now we see that they really want to get started with this. Because with AI, Pandora's box opens: the entire information management suddenly becomes very findable. You want and have to have a grip on that."

Oversharing with Copilot: "People can access much more data than they should"

Those who have too many rights already had those rights before the arrival of Copilot. "Copilot doesn't change what you are allowed to see," explains Dave. "But with AI, information is much easier to find. Anything that is too wide open can be consulted immediately. Copilot mainly makes it clear how you have actually set this up. And we often see that there is oversharing: people can access much more data than they should."

For many organizations, the risk of oversharing is therefore an important reason to take a closer look at their Copilot governance. The question Dave hears over and over again: 'Can we map out what is open and then reduce it?'

"Such an inventory is the first step towards Copilot readiness," says Dave. "It is important to know who can access what. Only then can you see what information Copilot may be presenting to employees."
 

Outdated content as a cost item: "A 'big cleanup' is often a better solution"

You often come across outdated content during an inventory. And that costs you a lot, says Dave: "First of all, such content takes up an unnecessary amount of SharePoint storage . Organizations that have been working with Microsoft 365 for years are running into storage limits. Then they buy additional storage space. But a 'big clean-up' is often a better solution. This creates more space and guarantees the quality of your content. And that last element is becoming increasingly important with AI. The motto is: 'Garbage in, garbage out.' If an AI tool draws on data that is not up-to-date, you get answers that you can't do much with."

In short, it is wise to go through your content with a broom for several reasons. How do you do that? "Good content management tackles the problems all at once," says Dave. "The first customers we connected to Content Governance and help optimize their storage save thousands of euros per month."
 

The problem of proliferation: "Microsoft 365 is often an 'out-of-control success'"

Another problem that many organizations face is proliferation. Dave: "Microsoft 365 is often a 'success that got out of hand'. First came SharePoint and Teams. Then Power Apps made its appearance. And now, employees are building their own AI agents. Without Power Platform governance and good management of workspaces such as Teams and SharePoint, IT quickly loses track of what's running, who's using what, and who owns what."

So, if you don't currently know exactly how many AI agents and Power Platform apps are running in your organization, you're not alone. But, says Dave, the AI Act does require you to know what your AI systems do: "With a jumble of environments and access rights, it becomes difficult to meet that requirement. That's a problem. Especially if, like many of our clients, you work with personal data of applicants. Or, even more intensely, with patient data. You really want to have a grip on that."
 

From biggest bottleneck to roadmap: "We have built everything modularly"

Oversharing, outdated content, proliferation: there are quite a few challenges that you may have to tackle. Fortunately, you don't have to pick up everything at once. Dave's advice: start where the shoe pinches the most. "For one organization, the biggest problem is an abundance of collaborative environments," he says. "In that case, you can use policy and tooling to set up workspaces with fixed rules. This prevents data from just leaving an environment. Another organization may want to clean up the content first. A third prefers to go back to basics: are the right checkmarks in the tenant enabled? And sometimes the starting point is Copilot governance, because you want your employees to work with Copilot as quickly as possible."

From the first challenge you take on, you build a roadmap. Dave: "We have built everything modularly for our customers. But it is still one whole: our approach is the same for all services."

Governance has no end date: "We don't 'just' set up a tool and then walk away"

If you see governance as a one-off project, you need to rethink a bit. There is no end date, because your environment continues to grow every day. "We don't 'just' set up a tool and then walk away," says Dave. "We take care of the management, draw up monthly reports and proactively issue warnings. You always sit at the table with the same specialist. And we provide fixed contact moments, so that our expert really gets to know your organization."

Will Wortell take all the reins? "Absolutely not," says Dave. "Wortell brings structure together with you and guides you carefully. We do this on the basis of our broad experience in various sectors, including government and healthcare. But everything is done in consultation. And the ownership remains with the customer."

Do you want to know where your biggest bottleneck is? Learn how Wortell helps organizations with AI Microsoft 365 Governance.