SharePoint Advanced Management had some huge licensing changes at Microsoft Ignite 2024! In this video, I am joined by Dave Minasyan, Product leader at Microsoft working on the SharePoint team who answers all of your questions!
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Video Summary
- Microsoft announced that SharePoint Advanced Management (SAM) is now included with the Microsoft 365 Copilot license, simplifying deployment and addressing oversharing concerns.
- All current features of SharePoint Advanced Management are included with the Copilot license, offering comprehensive governance tools without extra costs.
- There are no minimum Copilot license requirements to access SAM features, making them available whether you have one license or thousands.
- The new licensing changes are available for trial now, with a full rollout starting in January and continuing through March. Customers can sign up for a 30-day trial, extendable for another 30 days.
- Copilot will be integrated into the Microsoft 365, SharePoint, and Teams admin centers, allowing admins to execute tasks and analyze data using natural language. Initial features will roll out by the end of January, with more complex capabilities following soon after.
For more information, read the transcript blog below, or watch the video above!
Video Transcript
Hello, everyone! We are live from Microsoft Ignite, where Microsoft made a pretty big announcement that changes the licensing for SharePoint Advanced Management. Many of you have reached out to ask me questions, so I decided to make a quick video to answer them all. And because I don’t have a PhD in licensing—which is practically required with Microsoft—I decided to bring in a very special guest, Damon from Microsoft, a product leader on the SharePoint and OneDrive team. Thank you so much for being here! This is your first time on the channel. For those who don’t know you, you had quite a few things to share at Ignite that people watched live, so I’m sure almost everyone here knows you. But could you quickly introduce yourself?
“Hi, folks! I’m Dave Manasian. I’m part of SharePoint at Microsoft, especially focused on admin experiences across Microsoft 365. Right now, I’m laser-focused on SharePoint Advanced Management and on helping our customers deploy Copilot quickly.”
Awesome! This week at Ignite, Microsoft made a big announcement: SharePoint Premium Advanced Management is now included as part of the Copilot for M365 license. Can you tell us a bit more about that? More importantly, why did you decide to make this change?
“Great question! We’ve been speaking to lots of customers—I’ve been doing this for the past seven or eight months—helping them deploy Copilot. One of the consistent topics that came up is oversharing, which is a major concern for many customers. They’re really trying to resolve this issue, and SharePoint Advanced Management offers a lot of capabilities to help. Licensing, however, has been a barrier. So, Microsoft decided to smooth things out and offer the necessary governance capabilities to everyone, helping customers deploy more seamlessly.”
In addition to that—which I know is a bit outside your team—Viva Insights is now included with Copilot. So, you get the preparation tools to get ready for Copilot, then Copilot itself, and then you have the ROI and measurement tools through Viva Insights. That’s amazing!
“Yes, and with any Microsoft licensing announcement, people almost can’t believe it’s cheaper instead of more expensive. I’ve received a lot of questions about this.”
You also have a background in licensing, right? I saw you worked for the National Licensing Association, more on the government licensing side, but you know licensing.
“Yes, that’s right!”
My first question is a bit more complicated, so let me read it. Someone sent me a link on Microsoft Learn that says some features in SharePoint Advanced Management are included with the M365 Copilot license, but to get the full version of SAM and use all features, you need the SharePoint Premium Advanced Management license. Can you confirm what’s included with Copilot? Is it all of SAM or just specific features like data access governance?
“The latest announcement is that all of SharePoint Advanced Management as it currently exists—everything we discussed—is included with Copilot. I can’t speak for future changes, but as of now, all features are included to help with deployment and governance.”
That’s great! It includes around 30 features, which is amazing. The other popular question is, is there a minimum requirement? I have a client with about 1,000 users who are running a Copilot pilot project. They bought six licenses. Previously, SAM required licenses for all users if you had a large team. How does it work now? Is there a minimum number of Copilot licenses?
“We debated this a lot and decided to keep it simple: no barriers. SAM is included to unblock customers and get them moving. We’re offering it regardless of how many Copilot licenses you have. We also have customers with only one or two licenses who want to test things. So whether you have one license or thousands, it’s available to all.”
The other question is, when is this available? Someone messaged me on LinkedIn today and asked, “Where is it? How do I activate it?” Is it available now?
“We announced it today, and there’s a free 30-day trial you can sign up for to access everything we discussed. We’re rolling out the features starting in early January, and it’ll be available in all tenants by March. You can sign up for the trial now, and that will carry over until the full rollout.”
For those watching, remember you can get a 30-day trial, and after that, you can usually extend it for another 30 days. If you start at the end of November, it could cover you until January, by which time you might have it in your tenant. If you need more time, Microsoft Support is often willing to extend it.
“Yes! Definitely connect with your account teams or Microsoft support to see how they can help you with the transition. We want to ensure SAM isn’t a barrier.”
Another common question I received is about current SAM subscriptions. If someone signed up for a one-year SAM license and is paying monthly or prepaid, how will this change? Will they get a refund? I know you’re on the product side, so you might not know the details, but do you have any insight?
“From the product side, my role is to build what customers want. For licensing details, reach out to your account teams. The terms of your contract, organization size, and commitment to Copilot will all play a role. Smaller customers can contact Microsoft Support, and there should be processes in place starting in January.”
Yes, and for smaller customers, reach out to Microsoft Support, and they might introduce you to the right team. We’ll likely hear more details in January.
“Yes, we’re working on official documentation and processes, which should roll out in the next month or so. Stay tuned for those and keep in touch with your account teams.”
I think we’ve covered the basics of SAM licensing. On the topic of licensing, there’s also good news for Power Platform on the managed environment side. I’ll make a separate video on that, but Microsoft has really improved licensing for us this week!
“Yes, that’s also great news!”
Another feature you’re involved with is Copilot in the SharePoint Admin Center. Microsoft announced that admins will also benefit from AI with Copilot in the Microsoft 365 Admin Center, SharePoint Admin Center, and Teams Admin Center. The M365 Admin Center is in private preview right now. Can you tell us what’s coming with Copilot in the SharePoint Admin Center?
“We’re working on enabling SharePoint admins to execute simple tasks using natural language with Copilot across the SharePoint Admin Center. You’ll be able to initiate reports, analyze data, and detect patterns. Copilot will also allow you to execute large-scale actions based on insights. With SAM integration, Copilot can answer questions like, ‘Show me the sites that are overshared,’ and then initiate actions to help manage access.”
That’s amazing! When can we expect to see this live?
“We’re rolling out simple actions in January, followed by more complex actions that combine different skills. By May, at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference, much of this will be live, and we’ll be able to show how it works!”
Thank you so much for your time, Dave. Great insights and amazing announcements! You had three sessions at Ignite, one of which was so popular you had to repeat it. I’ll link it in the description so people can watch on demand. Hopefully, we’ll see you at the Microsoft 365 Community Conference in May, where we’ll focus on how to use these new features!
“Yes, it’s an evolving product with lots of investment. Looking forward to it!”
Thank you again, Dave! Enjoy the rest of the conference.
