From Strategy to Competitive Advantage with Microsoft 365 Copilot

AI readiness defines business advantage

Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from concept to competitive reality. Microsoft® 365 Copilot represents one of the most significant shifts in modern productivity by embedding generative AI directly into Word®, Excel®, Outlook®, PowerPoint® and Teams®. Employees can now summarize meetings, draft proposals, and analyze data within the tools they already use.

According to Microsoft’s Total Economic Impact study , early adopters reported saving up to 10 hours per employee per month, defined as time reclaimed from manual work. But realizing those results requires more than turning on Copilot. True impact depends on preparation, alignment and measurable adoption.

Building the foundation for AI-driven productivity

To unlock Copilot’s value, your Microsoft 365 environment must be ready across three dimensions: technical, governance and adoption.

Technical readiness
Copilot draws from Microsoft Graph to access Teams, SharePoint® and OneDrive® content. If those systems are outdated or misconfigured, results will be inconsistent.

Rackspace Technology helps you:

• Validate Microsoft 365 E3/E5 or Business Premium licenses and Copilot add-ons
• Enable modern authentication and multifactor authentication through Entra ID
• Validate network performance and hybrid or VDI support

Governance readiness
Copilot’s accuracy depends on high-quality, well-classified data. Rackspace Technology helps clean up redundant, outdated or trivial content and apply Microsoft Purview® sensitivity labels and Zero Trust policies so users see only what they should.

Adoption readiness
Even the best AI delivers little ROI if employees don’t embrace it. Rackspace Technology supports change-management programs, prompt-engineering workshops and champions networks to drive confidence and adoption.

Security and compliance are non-negotiable

For industries such as healthcare, financial services and manufacturing, Copilot introduces new governance challenges as it expands how users access information.

Rackspace Technology helps organizations validate compliance and strengthen controls through:

• Data residency mapping to maintain GDPR, HIPAA and FedRAMP compliance
• Purview eDiscovery and legal-hold setup for audit readiness
• Logging and traceability of Copilot activity for internal controls
• Mapping Microsoft certifications (ISO 27001, SOC 2) to internal frameworks

Aligning Copilot to business outcomes

Copilot creates the most value when tied to specific business goals. Rackspace Technology helps identify high-impact use cases that deliver measurable results.

Sources: Microsoft and Forrester, “The Total Economic Impact™ of Microsoft 365 Copilot” (2024); Microsoft Work Trend Index, “AI at Work Is Here. Now Comes the Hard Part” (April 2024).

Making ROI measurable

AI success depends on measurement. Rackspace Technology embeds ROI tracking into every phase of its Copilot readiness methodology so organizations can demonstrate impact early and often.

Key practices include:

• Establishing baseline benchmarks before deployment
• Using Power BI and Microsoft Admin reports to track adoption
• Reviewing ROI quarterly to monitor productivity and cost efficiency
• Fine-tuning licensing and governance based on real usage data

Staying ahead through continuous improvement

Microsoft 365 Copilot continues to expand across Dynamics 365®, Power Platform and third-party integrations. Ongoing optimization keeps your organization ahead of the curve.

Rackspace Technology recommends quarterly reviews to:

• Revisit governance and data-classification policies
• Monitor adoption and refine training
• Reallocate underused Copilot licenses
• Extend integrations into CRM, ERP and supply-chain systems

Through Rackspace Elastic Engineering, you gain embedded Microsoft experts who provide continuous optimization, governance and adoption support.

Why Rackspace Technology

Rackspace Technology combines strategy, execution and enablement to deliver measurable Copilot outcomes with deep Microsoft expertise and flexible service models.

Microsoft credentials

• Microsoft Solutions Partner for Modern Work, Data & AI, and Security
• Azure Expert MSP designation
• 2,500+ Microsoft certifications and 700+ Azure certifications worldwide

Delivery approach

• Copilot Readiness Assessments across licensing, security and adoption
• Professional Services Projects for Entra ID, Purview and Defender
• Rackspace Elastic Engineering for ongoing optimization and scaling
• Change-management enablement with analytics and training

Industry expertise

• Healthcare: Protect PHI data under HIPAA using Purview and Defender
• Financial services: Maintain compliance with SOC 2, GLBA, and PCI DSS
• Manufacturing: Improve quality and efficiency through AI insights
• Retail and logistics: Automate planning, fulfillment and engagement

Across industries, Rackspace Technology helps you align technical readiness with business outcomes securely and at scale.

Turning readiness into results

When readiness is done right, enterprises achieve measurable impact:

1. Productivity: Faster document creation, collaboration, and reporting
2. Security and compliance: Reduced data exposure and stronger audit readiness
3. Financial ROI: Optimized licensing and measurable efficiency gains

The takeaway

Microsoft 365 Copilot can redefine how your organization works, but success depends on preparation. The Microsoft 365 Copilot Professional Services Playbook outlines how to move from readiness to results, helping you deploy securely, measure impact and scale AI-driven productivity.

With Rackspace Technology as your partner, you can turn Copilot strategy into a competitive advantage.