Copilot for Microsoft 365: are we clear on the costs and benefits? 

Stimiamo il ROI prima di acquistare le licenze!

It's official: Microsoft Copilot has been made available to everyone, both for use by private individuals subscribing to Microsoft 365 Personal and Family and for companies of any size , without the need for a minimum number of 300 users (as can also be inferred from official sources).

The cost remains the same for the basic version: $30 per month per user. Since 15 January, the Pro version has also been available, which enhances the experience and offers more advanced features, although it is more suited to meet the needs of the individual than those of an organisation (as is also pointed out in the company's blog). This latest version has been available for a few days at $20 per user per month.

What is Copilot?

Copilot is a sophisticated processing engine that combines the power of large language models (LLM) with Microsoft 365 apps and the business data contained in the Microsoft Graph. 

Its task is to provide better assistance to users through natural language and increase their productivity with its native integration into M365 applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint and Dynamics365.  

Let's take a quick look back at the milestones in the commercialisation of Copilot:

• Launched on November First 2023, it was initially available for a minimum of 300 user licences only to Enterprise customers subscribing to Microsoft 365 E3 or E5, Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Premium at a price of $30 per user per month. As an add-on licence, it is not included in the packages for which one already pays, but is made available at an additional cost.
• Di conseguenza i clienti avevano bisogno di Microsoft 365 E3 o E5, o di Microsoft 365 Business Standard o Premium per integrare l’AI alle loro suite. Concedere la licenza per Copilot a tutti gli utenti con i pacchetti sopracitati non è proprio cheap: si calcola, infatti, che rispetto ai costi di licenza già previsti la spesa aumenterebbe del 53% per E5, dell’83% per E3, del 136% per M365 Business Premium e del 240% per M365 Business Standard. Chi ha pacchetti non inclusi tra quelli citati (ad es. F3 per il personale sul campo) e vorrebbe a tutti i costi sfruttare i vantaggi dell’AI, deve considerare anche i “costi” di migrazione: passare da F3 a M365 E3 (che è il più economico) comunque comporta un aumento del costo totale di licenza pari a 8 volte.
  
  
• In December, the update of the 'Product Terms and Conditions' suggested that it was unsuitable for Microsoft 365 Business, but on 15 January came the announcement that Copilot was also available for small enterprises. The cost is still $30 per month per user.
• In recent months, Copilot has been included in the availability and prerequisite tables of EA/SCE/EAS and MCA, thus officially entering the list of products available under these agreements. But even here, it must be assessed on a case-by-case basis whether the discounts and additional benefits enjoyed by companies with contracts such as Enterprise Agreements will also apply to Copilot licences, since Microsoft has spoken of a single figure per month per user for everyone.

Along with the extended marketing, Microsoft announced important news regarding the various product versions:

• Copilot Pro: Individual premium subscription provides priority access to the latest AI models, available for $20 per user
• Copilot in Microsoft 365 for Enterprise offers advanced features such as generating status updates based on company data and integration with applications such as Microsoft Teams
• Copilot Studio, allows organisations to customise Copilot and build autonomous copilots
• Copilot in Whiteboard, which facilitates brainstorming meetings in Teams

What are the costs of M365 Copilot? 

You can purchase a single licence of Copilot IN ADDITION to the following packages:

• For private customers, Microsoft 365 Personal costs around 69.99 per year, and Family around 99.
• Enterprise customers can choose plans with Teams and without Teams: these range from 11-20 per user per month for Microsoft 365 Business Standard and Premium, to around 35 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3 to 57 per user per month for E5.

Copilot for Office 365   is available at the current price of $30 per user (for Europeans 28.10 Eur)

Another important innovation concerns Teams: Copilot M365 is also available for Business Standard EAA and Business Premium EAA subscriptions, where Teams is not included.

In the requirements for using Copilot mentioned in this presentation, reference is made to the need to have Teams available, so it must be considered whether a separate licence is needed.