Block 64 has released a powerful new assessment to help navigate the path to Copilot for Microsoft 365.

Businesses worldwide are keen to find out more about Microsoft’s most-hyped product on the market – Copilot for Microsoft 365. And now that Microsoft has made significant changes to its Copilot licensing (read more), the door is wide open for organizations of all sizes to explore this exciting new product suite.

But on an individual customer basis, there are plenty of questions that need answering before taking the leap forward. Do you have the right licensing position? How will you keep your data and users secure? Will people actually use it?!

For IT solutions providers, if you can answer these questions, you can win your customer’s trust and ensure Copilot adoption is a success.

Introducing the Block 64 Copilot for Microsoft 365 Readiness Assessment

That’s why we created Block 64’s Copilot for Microsoft 365 Readiness Assessment. It delivers the insights and guidance needed to navigate this transformative journey with confidence.

By combining our effortless IT inventory and usage metrics with insights and automated analysis, the Assessment provides clear answers across three core considerations: security, licensing and standardization.

With those insights, partners are able to elevate conversations with customers, and provide relevant, actionable advice and catered solutions to move the needle.

>> Related: Watch our webinar about Copilot Readiness

The 3 Pillars of Copilot for Microsoft 365 Readiness:

Our assessment analyzes Copilot readiness across three key pillars of security, licensing and optimization. Here’s why those are important to Copilot success.

1. Zero Trust Security Compliance: Microsoft 365 Copilot operates within a Zero Trust security model, emphasizing the need for rigorous security policies and standards. Our assessment delves deep into your IT environment to evaluate your alignment with this model, ensuring that your data, networks, and applications are fully secure and compliant. By identifying potential vulnerabilities and offering specific recommendations, we empower you to establish a fortified foundation essential for a successful Copilot implementation.
2. Clear Licensing Position and Cost Analysis: Understanding your current licensing position is critical to ensuring that your investment in Microsoft 365 Copilot aligns with your organizational goals. Our assessment provides a detailed analysis of your licensing status, identifying any gaps or opportunities for optimization. This analysis includes a breakdown of Copilot-compatible licenses, enabling you to make informed decisions that maximize your return on investment.
3. Maximizing Microsoft 365 Adoption: Full adoption of Microsoft 365 is crucial not just for creating a comprehensive dataset for Copilot to utilize but also for ensuring that you are investing in tools that your users actively use. Our assessment evaluates the extent of Microsoft 365 usage within your organization, identifying areas where adoption can be improved. For example, we analyze OneDrive and Teams usage to ensure that if you invest in Copilot licenses, they will be utilized to their fullest potential, thereby avoiding the pitfall of paying for unused services.

The Block 64 Assessment Process: Insights and Value Delivered

Our assessment process is designed to offer actionable insights an organization’s readiness for Copilot for Microsoft 365. Here’s a closer look at the steps and tools involved to make that happen:

• Agentless Discovery Application: Our agentless discovery tool serves as the cornerstone of our assessment, providing a real-time inventory of your IT environment. This includes detailed insights into software installations, application-level vulnerabilities, and compliance with security standards.
• Debrief Meeting and Recommendations: Following the discovery phase, our analysts conduct a debrief meeting to walk you through our findings. This session is instrumental in understanding the implications of our analysis and the steps needed to enhance your readiness for Copilot.
• Customized Deliverables: The assessment culminates in a set of customized deliverables that include visualizations and recommendations tailored to your specific needs. For instance, we provide visualizations focusing on productivity applications’ security, highlighting any legacy installs that might compromise Copilot compatibility. We also offer guidance on active directory security, helping to identify and rectify potentially unsafe accounts in alignment with the Zero Trust framework.
• Trial Offer and Engagement Process: To demonstrate our commitment to your success, we offer a free trial of our assessment when delivered with your strategic solutions provider, VAR or MSP. This trial includes a comprehensive engagement with our team, who will conduct the assessment and provide consulting services on your behalf, acting as an extension of your team.

By integrating these insights and leveraging Block 64’s expertise, organizations can navigate the complexities of adopting Microsoft 365 Copilot with confidence. Want to get started or learn more? Please visit our Copilot assessment page to explore.

Zero Trust has established itself as the gold standard for an organization to implement robust security. Often listed as a CISO’s number one priority, the “never trust, always verify” mantra places organizations well ahead of peers and bad actors.

But there’s a piece of the zero trust puzzle that often gets overlooked – an unspoken, “secret ingredient.” Without it, no ZT strategy has any real chance of success.

We are talking about modern software asset management (SAM) practices – and all the work that goes into making it happen.

The good news is that when done right, good SAM doesn’t just lead to stronger security. It unlocks numerous other benefits, such as cutting out wasted spending, and speeding the path to the cloud and beyond.

So, let’s take a closer look at zero trust, powered by solid SAM practices. 

A Quick Recap: What is Zero Trust?

Zero Trust challenges the traditional perimeter-based security approach by assuming all users, devices, and applications are untrusted until proven otherwise. It operates on the principle of “never trust, always verify” and focuses on protecting critical assets through continuous monitoring and strict access controls. Key elements of Zero Trust include:

1. Identity and Access Management (IAM): IAM is at the core of ZT, ensuring that user identities are properly verified and authenticated before granting access to resources. It emphasizes the principle of least privilege, granting users only the necessary access privileges based on their roles and responsibilities.
2. Network Segmentation: Network segmentation divides the network into distinct zones, limiting lateral movement and minimizing the potential impact of a security breach. By separating critical assets into isolated segments, organizations can contain and mitigate security incidents effectively.
3. Microsegmentation: Microsegmentation takes network segmentation to a granular level, enabling organizations to establish fine-grained security controls at the application or workload level. It provides enhanced visibility and control over traffic flows within the network, reducing the attack surface and minimizing the risk of lateral movement.
4. Continuous Monitoring: Continuous monitoring involves real-time assessment and analysis of network activities, user behaviors, and system vulnerabilities. It enables swift detection and response to potential security threats, ensuring proactive mitigation measures are implemented.

The Intersection of SAM and Zero Trust:

With Zero Trust defined, let’s see how good Software Asset Management practices play a crucial role at every step.

1. Identity and Access Management: SAM provides organizations with a comprehensive view of software assets and their associated licenses. This information enables accurate user provisioning and access management, ensuring that only authorized individuals have access to the necessary software resources.
2. Network Segmentation and Microsegmentation: By maintaining an accurate inventory of software assets and their dependencies, SAM facilitates effective network segmentation and microsegmentation. It ensures that critical applications and workloads are identified, properly categorized, and isolated within their respective segments, reducing the attack surface and enhancing security.
3. Vulnerability Management: SAM supports continuous monitoring by providing insights into the software versions deployed across the organization. It enables proactive identification of outdated or unpatched software, allowing IT teams to prioritize vulnerability remediation efforts and reduce the risk of exploitation by malicious actors.
4. Compliance and Audit Readiness: SAM aids in compliance with licensing agreements and regulatory requirements, ensuring that software usage aligns with established policies. By maintaining a clear audit trail of software assets and licenses, organizations can demonstrate compliance during security audits, minimizing the risk of non-compliance penalties.

The power of SAM-supported Zero Trust:

Implementing effective Software Asset Management practices sets the stage for a robust Zero Trust security strategy. In fact, you can’t have one without the other. SAM provides the foundation your organization will need to properly implement ZT.

By implementing effective SAM practices, organizations can align their software assets with the principles of ZT, enhancing identity-centric security, micro-segmentation, continuous monitoring, least privilege access, and encryption.

The benefits don’t stop at security. With more insights, comes better decision making – and budgeting. A solid SAM foundation with also help identify and eliminate under-utilized or unnecessary software licenses.

Conclusion:

It’s time to stop talking about security without first talking about software asset management.

It’s time to stop talking about security without first talking about software asset management.

Not only is SAM essential to delivering on Zero Trust principles – without it, businesses are putting their operations at risk.

How can you direct a SAM-driven security strategy?

For IT solutions providers, and their customers, it starts with gaining a clear view of the entire infrastructure – and matching those insights with actionable advice and guidance. That’s where a company like Block 64 comes in.

We offer IT service providers and businesses the tools they need to modernize security, with our comprehensive discovery, reporting and analytics tools.

Want to learn more? Get in touch today to see how our solutions can help your business speed up decision making, modernize ITAM and strengthen security.