M365 Roundup, July 2023: Copilot Gets a Price, Azure AD Gets a New Name

July 2023 was Inspire month, and the announcements were structural rather than cosmetic: Microsoft 365 Copilot got its price tag ($30 per user per month), Azure AD got a new name (Microsoft Entra ID), and two entirely new products (Microsoft 365 Backup and Archive) joined the roadmap. Add Bing Chat Enterprise in preview, an automatic new-Teams deployment starting in September, and the next phase of New Commerce migration, and this is one of the heavier months of 2023 for MSP planning. Grouped by product, with timing on each item.

The Inspire announcements MSPs will be pricing#

Microsoft 365 Copilot: $30 per user per month#

Microsoft 365 Copilot will be offered as a paid add-on for customers with Microsoft 365 Business Standard, Microsoft 365 Business Premium, Microsoft 365 E3, and Microsoft 365 E5, at $30 per user per month.

Timing: general availability still TBD as of July 2023.

Microsoft 365 Backup and Microsoft 365 Archive#

Two new products announced at Inspire:

• Microsoft 365 Backup recovers OneDrive, SharePoint, and Exchange data at speed for large data volumes, with a restore service level agreement, while keeping everything inside the Microsoft 365 security boundary.
• Microsoft 365 Archive adds a cold data storage tier that keeps inactive or aging data within SharePoint at a cost-effective price point matched to the data's lifecycle stage.

Full announcement: Introducing Microsoft 365 Backup and Microsoft 365 Archive (opens in new tab). Inspire session: Microsoft 365 Backup and Microsoft 365 Archive (opens in new tab).

Timing: GA and pricing still TBD as of July 2023.

New Commerce: the legacy platform's retirement schedule#

In fiscal year 2024, Microsoft takes two steps toward retiring the CSP legacy commerce platform. Beginning November 2023, public sector offers (academic, government community cloud, not-for-profit and charity) become available in New Commerce for new and renewing customers. Starting January 2024, Microsoft begins automatically migrating all renewing commercial and public sector customers to New Commerce.

Full details: July 2023 Partner Center announcements (opens in new tab).

Entra ID: a rename and a push into network security#

Azure AD becomes Microsoft Entra ID#

Microsoft Entra ID is the new name for Azure Active Directory. The rename reflects the unification of the Entra product family and a commitment to simpler secure access experiences. Features and capabilities continue unchanged, as do prices, terms, and service level agreements.

Timing: the name rolls out across all Microsoft products and experiences through the second half of 2023.

Entra Internet Access and Entra Private Access#

Two new offerings push Entra into the Security Service Edge category:

• Microsoft Entra Internet Access is an identity-centric Secure Web Gateway protecting access to internet, SaaS, and Microsoft 365 apps and resources. It extends Conditional Access policies with network conditions to guard against malicious internet traffic and threats from the open internet, and for Microsoft 365 environments it adds security, visibility, and faster access to Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft 365 scenarios are in preview as of July 2023, and the preview covering all internet traffic and SaaS apps (opens in new tab) opens later in 2023.
• Microsoft Entra Private Access is an identity-centric Zero Trust Network Access product securing access to private apps and resources across hybrid and multicloud environments, private networks, and data centers, from any device and network. In preview, Private Access (opens in new tab) positions itself as a legacy VPN replacement with more granular security: Conditional Access per application, plus MFA, device compliance, and other controls enforced on legacy applications without changing them.

Full announcements: Microsoft Entra expands into Security Service Edge (opens in new tab) and the Community Hub post (opens in new tab). Preview details: Microsoft Entra Internet Access (opens in new tab).

Timing: public preview available as of July 2023; pricing and GA TBD.

Restricted Management Administrative Units#

Now generally available: designate specific users, security groups, or devices in a tenant that tenant-level administrators cannot modify. Useful when:

• Sensitive accounts, such as C-level executives, need protection from password or MFA changes by regular helpdesk administrators.
• Accounts, groups, or devices belonging to one site or location should only be modifiable by that location's designated administrators.
• Security groups granting access to sensitive data should only have their membership changed by a small set of administrators.

Full announcement: Introducing Restricted Management Administrative Units in Microsoft Entra ID (opens in new tab).

Teams: Copilot arrives, and the new client starts shipping itself#

Copilot in Teams Phone and Teams chat#

Copilot makes Teams Phone the first major UCaaS product with generative AI on phone calls: make and receive calls from the Teams app on any device with real-time summarization and insights, ask Copilot to draft notes during the call, and have it highlight key points like names, dates, numbers, and tasks using natural language commands. Demo video: Copilot in Teams Phone (opens in new tab).

In Teams chat, Copilot synthesizes key information from chat threads: ask specific questions or use suggested prompts to catch up on the conversation, organize discussion points, and summarize what matters to you, without breaking workflow. Demo video: Copilot in Teams chat (opens in new tab).

Full announcement: The next wave of Copilot in Microsoft Teams (opens in new tab).

Timing: available to Microsoft 365 Copilot Early Access Program participants; GA TBD.

New Teams deploys automatically with Microsoft 365 apps#

Starting September 2023, the new Teams client begins installing as part of new and existing Microsoft 365 apps installations on Windows, alongside classic Teams. Currently users adopt it through the Try the new Teams toggle (opens in new tab) or admin bulk deployment.

The rollout schedule depends on the office update channel and license type:

• Business plans (Business Basic, Business Standard, Business Premium, Teams Essentials with AAD, and similar): September 2023.
• Enterprise plans (E3, E5, F3, and similar): per Microsoft's published schedule.

To opt out (the control arrived in early August 2023): sign in to the Microsoft 365 apps admin center (https://config.office.com (opens in new tab)) with an admin account, go to Customization > Device Configuration > Modern Apps Settings, select Microsoft Teams (work or school), and clear the Enable automatic installation of new Microsoft Teams check box. Microsoft recommends leaving it enabled for the best Teams experience.

The Meet app: one place for meeting prep and follow-up#

Teams users get a dedicated meetings hub called Meet, rolling out exclusively on the new Teams across Desktop and Web. It collects pre-, during-, and post-meeting insights, content, and action items: upcoming meeting prep, catch-up on what was missed, and meeting content, agendas, notes, chats, and recaps in one place. Teams Premium users additionally see AI-powered insights such as missed meetings, mentions of them, and suggested tasks.

Timing: mid-October 2023 (previously mid-August), completing by mid-November 2023.

Shared Device license comes to Android phones#

The Teams Shared Device license brings a shared identity, common-area phone experience to Android phones: basic and advanced calling, people search, voicemail, and walkie talkie. Walkie Talkie, call queues, auto attendants, cloud voicemail, call park, and the other calling features supported on common area phones become available through the Teams Android app.

Timing: late August 2023, completing by early September 2023.

1,000 channels per team#

Channel limits increase to 1,000 per team: any combination of standard and shared channels, plus up to 30 private channels, within the 1,000 total.

Timing: mid-August 2023, completing by late August 2023.

Stream videos play inline in chat and channels#

Users can preview and play Stream videos directly in Teams chat and channels, without opening a browser and navigating to Stream.

Timing: late July 2023, completing by late August 2023.

Channel meeting invites can notify the whole team#

Channel meetings often get missed because members are never properly notified. Organizers can now flip a toggle on the scheduling form when creating a channel meeting; once saved, every channel member gets the meeting on their main work calendar.

Timing: early August 2023, completing by mid-August 2023.

An intake page for blocked external collaboration#

When a user tries to add an external person to a shared channel and B2B direct connect trust is not mutually configured, organizations can now point them at a support page instead of a dead end. The page can explain external collaboration through shared channels or collect the details needed to evaluate the request.

Setup: Teams admin center > Team settings > Shared channels > enable Provide a link to my support request page and supply a valid URL.

Users attempting the blocked action then see a message with the link "Here's what you can do."

Timing: early August 2023, completing by mid-August 2023.

Cloud IntelliFrame for Teams Rooms#

Cloud IntelliFrame helps online attendees see people in Teams Rooms more clearly by creating smart video feeds of in-room participants, zooming into faces and removing distractions.

Timing: mid-August 2023, completing by early September 2023.

Intune: users can finally uninstall their own apps#

Users can select uninstall for Win32 and Microsoft Store apps they installed on demand through the Company Portal, when the app was assigned as available. Previously, standard users could not uninstall applications they had installed through the Company Portal without administrator rights, which meant helpdesk tickets for something users should be able to do themselves.

Walkthrough video: https://youtu.be/rLJU9ERO81Y (opens in new tab)

Timing: by end of August 2023.

Edge: a management service, a work browser, and Bing Chat Enterprise#

Edge management service hits GA in the Microsoft 365 admin center#

A dedicated, simplified management experience for Edge is rolling out in the Microsoft 365 admin center. Admins manage group policies and extensions through toggles and drop-down menus instead of configuring JSON values, which cuts down on errors. It sits alongside Intune and other endpoint solutions as another option for managing Edge.

Global admins and Edge admins can create and manage policies and extensions and assign configurations to Azure AD groups. The extensions tab connects to Edge Add-ons for searching, ratings, adding, and deleting extensions, plus viewing user extension requests in one place.

Full announcement: Microsoft Edge at Build 2023 (opens in new tab). How-to: Microsoft Edge management service (opens in new tab).

Edge for Business separates work and personal browsing#

Signing in with AAD gives users Edge for Business, a visually distinct work browser with enterprise controls for secure data access and leak prevention. It automatically splits work and personal browsing into dedicated windows with separate caches and storage locations. Admins can apply company branding to the work window, and unmanaged BYOPC support brings compliant access to work resources on personal computers with DLP controls.

More information: Microsoft Edge for Business (opens in new tab).

Timing: preview in Edge version 115 or later; on by default beginning with Edge 116, scheduled for the week of August 17, 2023.

Bing Chat Enterprise: AI chat with commercial data protection#

Bing Chat Enterprise gives organizations AI-powered chat for work where user and business data stay protected and do not leak outside the organization. Chat data is not saved, Microsoft has no eyes-on access, and it is not used to train models.

To turn it on: https://aka.ms/TurnOnBCE (opens in new tab). Once enabled, users can reach it, where supported, at bing.com/chat and in the Edge sidebar (requires Edge 114.0.1823.86 or higher in Stable or Dev channels). Users must sign in with their work account (Microsoft Entra ID, currently known as Azure Active Directory).

Licensing: customers on Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard, and Business Premium get Bing Chat Enterprise at no additional cost.

More information: Announcing Bing Chat Enterprise and Microsoft 365 Copilot pricing (opens in new tab).