Microsoft Purview Sensitivity Labels: Sensitivity label grouping modernization coming this fall (?)

There is a change coming to Microsoft Purview Information Protection that simplifies sensitivity label architecture. The goal is to make label management easier, more scalable, and less rigid for organizations. The new model will only include standalone labels and sublabels. Parent labels will be replaced by label groups, which act as organizational containers. These groups cannot be applied to content and have no actions or scope, but they retain color and priority for visual organization. Hopefully, this change will make it much easier to move labels around and make other changes in production: for example, converting a standalone label into a sublabel or moving sublabels between groups without breaking dependencies.  From my experience, this update solves one of the biggest challenges in large environments: rigid label hierarchies. The new dynamic model gives admins the agility they need to adapt quickly as compliance and business needs evolve. For admins, migration will be quic...

Microsoft Copilot coming to Teams and Outlook for users with Entra accounts

Microsoft is expanding the Microsoft Copilot for users with Entra licenses, and the distinctions between the different versions are becoming increasingly blurred. Initially, when Copilot was released, there was the "Bing/Chat" version for commercial use. This version did not necessarily protect company data from being harvested or used for training purposes. Microsoft also released the enterprise-protected Copilot version for all users with an M365 E5 license about the same time. Although this version did not integrate searches or features with company data, it at least promised to keep data and queries private to the organization when used.

Subsequently, Microsoft revised the requirements for accessing the enterprise-protected version of Copilot, making it available to everyone with an Entra User License, effectively including virtually anyone within an M365 tenant.

Now, further changes are on the horizon for this group of users. Starting mid-January, Microsoft will enhance this offering even further. Soon, users will be able to access Copilot directly from Teams and Outlook, in addition to the existing web interface (BizChat). This is mentioned in Roadmap ID 420330

While I believe this is a positive development, it may cause confusion among users who might assume they now have Copilot licenses. Therefore, it is important to train and inform your users about the differences in behavior of these apps and integrations for users with and without a Copilot license. For instance, explaining why they might experience different results based on the actual license and version of Copilot they are using is essential.

If you want to help your users find the app, an admin can follow this guide to pin the app for the endusers. Or you can let them find it and pin it for themselves.