The Biggest Concern for Companies Getting Started with Copilot: Data!

How do we handle the enormous amounts of legacy data? How do we ensure that we don’t inadvertently share sensitive information with Copilot?

Copilot works with the data that users have access to in SharePoint and OneDrive. If an organization’s data governance is not in place, there is a risk of unintentional data sharing with the wrong people, exposure of confidential information, or the inclusion of outdated documents in decision-making processes.

Until now, the solution has often revolved around Purview Information Protection, which is undoubtedly a powerful tool for classifying and protecting data. However, for many companies, getting started can feel overwhelming—it requires time, resources, and a thorough effort to implement correctly.

So, what if we had a tool that could quickly provide an overview and ensure that Copilot only works with the right data from the start?

This is where SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) comes into play. With SAM, companies gain access to a range of powerful tools to:

• Ensure proper ownership of data so it's clear who is responsible for which documents.

• Clean up old data and ensure outdated documents don't influence decisions.

• Monitor and manage sharing to avoid accidental access of sensitive information.

And it requires remarkably little effort to get started.

With SAM, we can now define rules for the number of owners a site must have. This ensures that all SharePoint sites always have at least two owners, and if an owner leaves the organization, an automated workflow ensures that a new owner is appointed.

Additionally, we can configure sites without owners to automatically be set to "read-only," preventing further changes until a new owner is designated. This guarantees that data is not left without responsibility and that critical content remains managed and protected.

In short, SAM helps organizations keep track of ownership, reduce the risk of orphaned sites, and ensure that data is always under control.

Similar to group expiration policies in Entra ID, SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) allows us to define rules for handling inactive sites.

With SAM, we can now target all types of sites, including those without an associated Microsoft 365 group. A new feature also allows us to choose different actions for inactive sites:

• Set them to "read-only," preventing any changes until reactivated.

• Archive them in SharePoint Archive, removing them from search and Copilot while preserving data so they can be restored with a single click.

This provides companies with a controlled way to clean up outdated data while ensuring that valuable information is stored securely and can be accessed again if needed.

SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) gives administrators better insight into how data is shared across the organization.

SAM reports identify sites with high exposure, such as those where sharing occurs via Anyone links, broad internal access, or where sensitive files have open permissions. AI-driven insights provide concrete recommendations for improving security, and administrators can initiate a review where site owners review and adjust sharing settings to prevent data oversharing.

At first glance, SAM may seem extensive, but in reality, it requires only minimal configuration, which can be completed in an afternoon. The biggest task lies in communicating with colleagues—explaining what changes are being introduced, what this means for them in concrete terms, and what responsibilities they need to take on in connection with site reviews.