Microsoft CoPilot – CSP availability and significant change in qualification criteria
Microsoft first launched M365 Copilot in November 2023 with the intent to bring the power of generative AI to businesses of all sizes across every industry. Today, Tuesday 16th January, Microsoft announced Copilot for Microsoft 365 is now generally available across all sales channels including Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) new commerce—representing a much larger opportunity for all organisations.
Let me cover off the specific details of what we know about this. On release last year, M365 Copilot was only available to Enterprise Agreement customers, with no discounting and for a minimum of 300 users. The new updates are:
- Qualifying licenses: Commercial customers with Microsoft 365 E3/E5, Office 365 E3/E5, and Microsoft 365 Business Standard/Business Premium prerequisite base SKUs will be able to purchase the Copilot for Microsoft 365 add-on SKU.
- Minimum Commitment removal: Microsoft are removing the minimum seat purchase requirement for Copilot for Microsoft 365 across all channels and segments; however, customers must have a product license of one of the prerequisite base SKUs for each seat of Copilot for Microsoft 365 they purchase.
- Agreements: Now available on Ultima CSP. Currently only annual commitments
- Cost: High level confirmation of $30 per user per month
- Academic: Education customers with Microsoft 365 A3/A5 and Office 365 A3/A5 will be able to purchase Copilot for Microsoft 365 add-on SKU through EES.
Ultima were aware and anticipating these updates, and had previously advised our customers around this. The acceleration of the release has confirmed that the customer response to Copilot has been strong, and Microsoft have responded.
Perhaps more significantly, there are many customers with their CSP renewal approaching in the next 60 days and this Copilot release is Microsoft supporting those customers. They want to encourage all renewing customers to include some Copilot licenses, and see this as the perfect opportunity to engage in business transformation with AI conversations centred around Copilot for Microsoft 365.
Please join or watch our multiple webinars, discussing the impact, the licensing, the readiness sessions or simply what the conversation is around currently.
Please contact the Ultima softwareteam@ultima.com to understand what the next steps, or cost, would be for your organisation.