Microsoft is making significant changes to its Microsoft 365 subscription, with one of its biggest privacy features set to be removed by the end of this month.

The built-in Virtual Private Network (VPN), which was previously available through the Microsoft Defender app, will no longer be a part of the subscription service from 28th February 2025.

The decision to discontinue the VPN just so happens to coincide with the recent increase in Microsoft 365 subscription fees. While Microsoft has introduced new AI-powered features, businesses relying on the built-in VPN for security and privacy will now need to find an alternative.

Microsoft 365 VPN to Be Discontinued

While the built in VPN was admittedly not the most advanced service and although it did not come with all the bells and whistles one would get from a more sophisticated option, users still greatly benefitted from having an easily available way to protect themselves when browsing the web.

Now, only a few years after it first became available, a Microsoft support statement was released explaining the rationale behind this move. The statement said, “Our goal is to ensure you, and your family remain safer online. We routinely evaluate the usage and effectiveness of our features. As such, we are removing the privacy protection feature and will invest in new areas that will better align to customer needs”

Why Businesses Should Invest in a Private VPN

It should be noted that at the moment, the removal of the VPN is only affecting Personal and Family 365 packages. But it does beg the question: If Microsoft can remove VPN privileges from these users, what would stop it from doing the same to businesses?

With Microsoft withdrawing its VPN offering to some users, businesses should be considering third-party VPN solutions, if they don’t already have such a system in place. With cybersecurity threats constantly on the rise, businesses can’t afford to suddenly lose access to important security tools (or be forced to make extra space in their budgets, at the drop of a hat).

While Microsoft’s VPN is a convenient addition, it was never designed to provide the best or most sophisticated enterprise-grade protection. But a private VPN service does provide several key advantages that Microsoft cannot:

• A business-grade VPN uses stronger encryption protocols and security measures to protect company data from cyber threats.
• Unlike Microsoft’s VPN, which is automatically assigned a region, private VPNs allow businesses to choose their server locations, ensuring unrestricted access to global resources.
• With stricter GDPR regulations in the UK, businesses must ensure their data is encrypted and secure at all times. A private VPN helps maintain compliance by safeguarding sensitive information.

For UK businesses concerned about privacy, the removal of Microsoft 365’s VPN should serve as a wake-up call to invest in a more robust and reliable alternative.

It is more important than ever before for business owners to take proactive steps towards protecting their digital security in an increasingly threat-prone online landscape.

And 24/7 IT Services can help you do just that. With our approach to IT Security Solutions and our expansive Managed IT Support Services, we can help you ensure that your online data stays secure and your IT needs met. Contact us today for more information.

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The way that we do business has changed enormously over just the last few years.

The pandemic has taught business owners and employees not only the importance of going digital and being able to operate profitably with a remote workforce, but also just how much meetings are a waste of time.

While, there will always be those important meetings that require your attendance and your full attention, but for the most part, it is becoming painfully obvious that most meetings could just be an email.

Microsoft has noticed this feeling in business and it has seen how much time employees could be spending better elsewhere. And so, with its latest release, which is a part of the upcoming Microsoft 365 package update, Microsoft is using AI to bridge the gap between the necessity for staff to get information and the downright waste of time it is for them to have to sit in hours long meetings to do so.

The AI is called Copilot, and if it sounds familiar to you, it’s probably because we have mentioned it before (and also because Microsoft has been talking about its development a lot since the start of the year).

Copilot is Almost Here

From the 1^st of November 2023, Copilot will become available as a part of the Microsoft 365 subscribers app package.

But there is a catch. And the catch is that it will cost an additional $30 a month per user.

For most business employees, especially those working for small companies, having access to Copilot might not be completely necessary, but for big businesses with plenty of managerial employees, Copilot might just be the one tool that makes work life that little bit more productive.

The idea behind Copilot is to create an AI Chat Bot that serves as the only assistant you will ever need. It will be the never eats, never sleeps, is always there to help bot that does everything from preparing emails and creating graphs and tables in Excel, to attending meetings in order to collect those all-important minutes.

You don’t necessarily need to use Copilot to opt out of all meeting obligations, just because you can’t be bothered, but you can use it when you simply don’t have the time or when you have double-booked yourself.

Copilot is already being used by global brand names like Goodyear and KPMG with great success and soon everyone will be able to lighten their workloads using the bot.

For the British employee in particular the availability of Copilot is great news as studies have shown that each year British employees are wasting up to 27 work days attending to “busywork” i.e. something that really could have just been an email.

So, will you be integrating Copilot into your business or are you still looking for an IT company in London to get you fully setup with Microsoft 365? If your answer is the latter, we might just be the team you are looking for. At 24/7 IT Services we provide our clients with a wide range of IT services such as Manage IT Support, IT Security, Cloud Solutions, and even Business Continuity plans.

You can contact us today for more information.

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As tech remains in the grips of the first flush of AI infatuation, Microsoft users will be among the first to learn more about the capabilities of this technology as the company continues to develop new ways to harness the power of AI.

The latest Microsoft AI venture is Microsoft 365 Copilot, which is going to be used to turn the words that you create into a tool that is guaranteed to improve your workplace productivity. The announcement of this new development was made on March 16^th 2023, with the technology already in full development and currently being tested by a select few commercial customers.

What customers can look forward to with Microsoft 365 Copilot

Microsoft says that its goal with Copilot is to “unleash creativity, uplevel skills and unlock productivity.” And for the users, there are a few ways that they will be able to experience this new type of technology.

1. Users will find that the AI is going to be integrated into pretty much all of the 365 products that they use and have come to depend on. Along with Teams already getting an AI boost, with Copilot, products like Microsoft Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook are all going to have AI integration.
2. Business Chat, a new product, will also be introduced to the public. Business Chat is being designed to work across various Microsoft products, including Microsoft 365. This product will be able to generate statuses about meetings and emails, which will bridge gaps in communication.

What is going to be really most welcomed by users is the fact that although the product is powered by AI, the user will have full control.

How Copilot will be integrated

Copilot will be used in different ways, unlocking new potential in each Microsoft product it is integrated with. At the moment, here’s what you can expect:

Word – With Microsoft Word, Copilot will be used to create summaries, to write and to edit alongside the person using the programme.

Excel – Copilot will be able to use Excel data to identify trends, create beautiful visual representations of the data, and to highlight new insights which the user can then capitalise on.

Outlook – Copilot will be used to better manage the often overcrowded Outlook inbox, giving the user more time to properly answer emails.

PowerPoint – In PowerPoint, Copilot will allow the user to turn their ideas into visuals, through the use of language rather than complicated coding or commands.

With all of the new and exciting possibilities that Microsoft’s AI developments will bring, the company remains steadfast in its commitment to data protection and privacy. The new tools are the result of many years of research and a dedication to AI principles, and Microsoft intends to protect data and other sensitive information the AI will access.  

Copilot will come ready to use, rather than need additional training, and it will become the first programme of its kind in the world.

In the near future, Microsoft will release more information about the pricing of these advanced tools as well as the licensing. The hope is that one day tools like Copilot will be able to greatly empower both the businesses that make use of the technology and the people who use it.

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At 24/7 IT Services, we are a professional, hands on IT company in London, focusing on providing our clients with the best services, including Business Continuity, Cloud Computing, and Network Services. We also have extensive experience with all of the various Microsoft products, especially Microsoft 365. For more information about how we can help your business, you can contact us today.

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