Artificial Intelligence is changing how businesses work every day. One of the most powerful tools in this space is Microsoft 365 Copilot. But having access to AI is not enough. This article helps understand how the Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage Report works and how it turns insights into real business impact.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot is transforming our experience with artificial intelligence. It allows employees to quickly produce text-based outputs in email, document creation, and analyzing their data; however, many organisations are now wondering if they are using Copilot the way it was intended. This is where the Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage Report is of importance to their organisations.

Importance of Copilot Usage Tracking

Countless companies are investing in AI applications with very large expectations regarding their return on investment. However, companies must understand that the return on investment only comes through actual utilization of the licenses issued to the employees. According to reports from various organisations, almost 40% to 60% of software-as-a-service licenses issued to an organisation are generally not utilised. This is also true with respect to the Copilot AI application. If the employees are not utilising the tool, the investment is lost.

According to Microsoft’s own research studies on using Copilot, completion time for task execution is reduced by at least 30%. Potentially, estimates have indicated an increase in productivity of up to 70% for repetitive tasks.

However, these benefits can only be achieved if people are using the Copilot tool.

Thus, tracking the utilisation of Copilot is necessary to achieve business results.

What is the Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage Report?

The Copilot Usage Report is a built-in analytics tool in Microsoft 365 that provides insight into the use of Copilot by employees using products such as Word, Excel, Outlook, and Teams. It answers some basic but very important questions related to employee usage of Copilot:

Who is using Copilot?
How frequently is Copilot used?
Which Microsoft 365 applications provide the best value from Copilot?
In what situations can Copilot be considered less frequently utilized?

Managers can draw conclusions regarding whether Copilot is actually helping their teams vs. simply sitting idle by determining the responses to these questions. The common problems that many businesses face.

The common problems that many businesses face

Even though there is a report available for companies to use to help facilitate the use of the report, many companies are not utilizing the report as intended. In general, the report was created for technical purposes and therefore provides little information to business owners to help them determine how to relate their usage data to the business being provided through the use of the system. In addition, there is no clear definition of what constitutes “good usage.”

As indicated in a report by Gartner, over 50% of all digital transformation initiatives fail because of an absence of visibility and the inability to track adoption. At this point, businesses need improved clarity relative to their employee’s use of the Microsoft 365 applications that they subscribe to.

How 365TUNE can help you

Now that you have an understanding of what 365TUNE is, let’s see how 365TUNE works with the raw data from Microsoft 365 and builds a model that is easy to read. The previous paragraph described how 365TUNE takes a long and complex report of a lot of data and converts it to clear and concise information that will help you understand, instead of simply being presented with numbers. With 365TUNE, you will be able to answer business-related questions with data; for instance:

Are we using Copilot effectively?
Which departments require additional training?
Where are we wasting our licensing?
What improvements can we recommend for usage?

The 365TUNE solution is action-oriented and will tell you what action to take based on the data that is displayed. For example, if a team is not using Copilot in Excel, 365TUNE will let you know that and give you ideas for the next steps (i.e., the next steps can be training or additional onboarding). The bottom line is that you will have more confidence in making decisions with the use of 365TUNE.

Good Copilot Usage

Good usage is more than just logging into the product; you are using it to perform meaningful activities such as drafting an email significantly faster than doing it manually, summarizing the content from your meetings, producing reports in a matter of minutes versus days, and analysing large amounts of data in a matter of seconds versus hours and hours.

The results of studies show that an employee can spend upwards of 20 percent of their time just conducting searches for information. With Copilot, this time is dramatically decreased.

Without utilizing a method to track how you’re using Copilot, you won’t have the visibility needed to realize improved performance levels.

Turning Data into Actionable Decisions

When it comes to making business decisions, the basis for those decisions is founded on numerical data presented via raw reports. But the actual materials that businesses will utilize in order to make those decisions require the use of tools like 365TUNE that will take an organisation from just having access to raw data, to providing actionable, insightful output to better equip them in their decision-making processes.

For example, rather than just being presented with the statement “there is low usage,” a business could find out the following:
The specific users who require additional support
The teams have achieved success
The areas in which an organisation needs to focus on reducing costs
The areas an organisation should invest in to get the best return on investment

This will allow an organisation to look at Copilot as an investment that can be tracked as a line item in their financial reports, rather than as merely an expense.

The Big Picture – AI Return on Investment

AI is growing really quickly. Globally, the AI market will surpass $1 trillion in revenue by 2030, and companies are spending billions of dollars on investments in AI technology.

But just because a company invests in AI doesn’t mean there will be success.

Success will be realized through the adoption, usage, and impact of AI technology.

According to Microsoft, employees who use AI tools report feeling satisfied and less stressed at work, provided they use the tools effectively.

Tracking tools such as the Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage Report will therefore be an essential part of the growth of AI because they provide the basis for measurement and analysis of the use of AI by employees, and help to create a baseline for the improvement of productivity, employee engagement, and employee performance.

Final Thoughts

Microsoft 365 Copilot is an amazing tool that can increase your productivity, save you time, and decrease your workload. However, if you do not track how much you use Microsoft 365 Copilot, you have simply purchased a software license that your staff is not using.

The Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage Report will provide you with the information you need, and 365TUNE will translate it into an action plan to improve employee productivity.

In other words, You cannot improve what you cannot measure!