As 2023 winds down, it’s unimaginable to replicate on all of the progress we’ve made throughout the Microsoft 365 ecosystem this 12 months. Above all, I wish to thank our clients for trusting Microsoft Groups to be your software and platform for collaboration and communication. I’m proud to report that tens of hundreds of thousands extra individuals adopted Groups this 12 months, together with the brand new model launched in October. Microsoft Groups now has over 320 million month-to-month energetic customers.
I additionally wish to share my deep gratitude with the unbiased software program distributors (ISVs), system integrators, and enterprise builders who’ve partnered to assist construct our Groups ecosystem. Because of your funding, there are actually greater than 2,000 apps within the Groups retailer and over 145,000 customized line-of-business (LOB) apps constructed by enterprises.
This 12 months’s greatest information was the introduction of Microsoft Copilot, your highly effective new AI assistant for work. Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 grew to become typically accessible Nov.1, and we’re making certain that your funding in Groups supplies the inspiration for Copilot extensibility, which lets you increase Copilot with customized expertise and convey its capabilities to your apps. Organizations with Copilot for Microsoft 365 can choose into the public preview for extensibility.
As we glance ahead, I wish to share key assets we’ve created for ISVs and enterprise builders so as to plan the way you’ll harness the facility of AI by extending Copilot. I additionally wish to spotlight just a few implausible Groups apps that may assist enterprises enhance their end-of-year operations, acknowledge excellent staff, and kick off subsequent 12 months with renewed function.
Ideas for extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 utilizing Microsoft Graph connectors
In 2024, enterprise adoption of Copilot for Microsoft 365 will acquire rising momentum, and enterprise builders and ISVs should put together accordingly. You may prolong Copilot two methods: plugins and connectors. First, we’ll cowl Microsoft Graph connectors, which convey data and content material from exterior knowledge sources into Microsoft Graph, enhancing the data layer and grounding Copilot’s responses in additional of your distinctive context. This extensibility choice, which is mostly accessible, additionally helps customers uncover extra of your group’s content material throughout Microsoft 365 experiences, like Microsoft Search.
For instance, in early spring 2024, Copilot customers will have the ability to seek for and summarize content material from Lucidspark’s digital whiteboards and Lucidchart’s clever diagramming, bringing pure language processing to a brand new degree. Lucid will obtain that new functionality by extending Copilot with Graph connectors, making it potential to motive over the varied knowledge properties within the whiteboard or diagram and reply complicated consumer questions. Info such because the content material of Lucid canvases, the date the Lucid doc was created or modified, the creator, and different related fields might be ingested by way of Graph connectors to floor wealthy insights to customers. Content material ingested from Graph connector knowledge might be linked in Copilot’s references, permitting customers to hyperlink again to the unique Lucid whiteboard or diagram.
Go to Microsoft’s new developer portal to study extra about find out how to get began constructing Graph connectors, or try this fast begin information. You may obtain options from the Pattern Resolution Gallery, and go to the Microsoft 365 Developer YouTube channel for movies on greatest practices. You can even evaluation the record of all revealed Graph connectors which were enabled to be used with Copilot.
Ideas for extending Copilot for Microsoft 365 with plugins
You can even prolong Copilot utilizing plugins. A robust approach to create a plugin is to use Groups message extensions, which might retrieve exterior knowledge, analyze and summarize data, and permit customers to take actions by way of Adaptive Playing cards in Groups. Builders can now create message extensions utilizing Groups Toolkit for Visible Studio and Visible Studio Code. For current message extensions, be certain app manifests are up to date.
We have now a wealth of assets to assist builders construct best-in-class plugins and efficiently prolong Copilot.
- Comply with our information for constructing high-quality plugins.
- Construct plugins with low code, or create your personal enterprise copilots, with Microsoft Copilot Studio.
- Take a look at greatest practices for designing Adaptive Playing cards and Groups activity modules to set the stage for nice plugins.
- Develop an experience in immediate design and engineering to extend the accuracy of responses from massive language fashions (LLMs).
- Arrange a dev surroundings by making use of for the Microsoft 365 Developer Know-how Adoption Program, which has a restricted variety of Copilot licenses accessible for ISVs to buy in personal preview.
How Groups AI library allows clever apps
Enterprises and ISVs may also start their AI journey by utilizing Groups AI library, in public developer preview, to streamline the event of clever apps utilizing APIs, controls, and prebuilt code. Ramp, an ISV that automates funds and expense administration, used the AI library to map consumer intent to actions contained in the Ramp expertise extraordinarily shortly, with out requiring customized immediate engineering or handbook LLM calls. The API additionally makes it easy so as to add actions to Ramp’s Groups app with little or no improvement effort.
The ensuing integration with Groups removes friction from conventional monetary workflows and unlocks vital productiveness good points—in the end making finance easier and extra environment friendly.
“Ramp is right here to redefine the established order and make finance easy, so companies can deal with work that issues,” says Eric Glyman, CEO of Ramp. “Simplicity and ease-of-use are on the coronary heart of what our clients love about Ramp—from clever routing for the suitable approvals, to routinely matching receipts to transactions, to sustaining efficient controls. By seamlessly integrating with Groups, we make clever monetary instruments accessible the place lots of of hundreds of thousands of individuals do their greatest work daily.”
Ramp has additionally taken the subsequent step by integrating with Copilot, offering every worker with a finance assistant that may full expense workflows on their behalf, give immediate perception into spending developments, and reply expense coverage questions.
Groups apps to enhance year-end actions and jumpstart 2024
With the 12 months wrapping up, I’d additionally like to focus on some Groups apps that may enhance recognition packages for excellent staff in 2023 or assist refine enterprise operations for 2024, beginning with one other take a look at Ramp.
Along with accelerating day-to-day duties, Ramp’s integration with Copilot additionally fosters extra strategic, data-backed pondering and decision-making. With deep perception into the monetary inside workings of your enterprise, the Ramp plugin is a useful associate to finance groups planning, monitoring, and managing budgets as we method 2024. For instance, finance managers planning journey and leisure budgets can use Ramp to grasp how a lot their firm spent on accommodations final 12 months and alter their forecasts primarily based on the information.
Achievers for Groups: Have a good time moments that matter
Because the tempo of labor accelerates, Achievers for Groups helps clients simplify worker engagement by merging the worker expertise into the day by day circulation of labor, and by leveraging a software that staff already use and love—Microsoft Groups. This extends the worth of worker engagement methods and will increase a way of belonging by embedding recognition alternatives all through day by day routines.
“The Achievers for Groups app permits us to convey recognition into the circulation of an worker’s regular course of labor,” says Michael Cohen, Chief Product Officer at Achievers. “With so many staff spending the majority of their day in communications instruments like Groups, the flexibility to ship and obtain recognition from inside the software permits us to fulfill staff the place they’re and to encourage culture-building with out ever leaving the Groups app.”
Organizations which have carried out the Achievers for Groups integration have seen vital will increase within the variety of recognitions despatched and better total worker engagement versus these with out the combination.
Enterprises may also use Achievers to amplify year-end recognition initiatives, using key capabilities like celebrating moments that matter the place and after they happen by sending social or points-based recognitions inside Groups. Factors-based recognitions are redeemable for rewards staff truly need. Achievers is an business chief with a market of over 3 million rewards and a pair of,500 international manufacturers—with native achievement companions that guarantee speedy and dependable supply in over 190 international locations, all backed by award-winning customer support.
BHN Rewards: Simplify worldwide gifting to incentivize staff
In keeping with BHN’s 2022 Worker Incentives Report from NAPCO Analysis, 83 % of staff say that getting rewards improves their productiveness and loyalty. Reward playing cards and pay as you go playing cards are probably the most requested choice (cited by 90 %).¹ BHN Rewards for Groups makes it simple to present staff what they need whereas additionally simplifying funds controls, worldwide rewarding, and reward monitoring.
Customers can ship rewards throughout reside digital conferences or in one-on-one chat messages, and the reward announcement may be simply shared to Groups channels as nicely. The choice to ship rewards publicly—even amongst distant, hybrid, and international groups—amplifies the impression as a result of colleagues can see and touch upon the popularity. Recipients can simply declare their digital present card or pay as you go card with just some clicks.
With the exponential rise in distant staff and international workforces, delivering end-of-year employees appreciation presents and honoring high performers has gotten extra difficult for lots of enterprise corporations. However with BHN Rewards for Groups, these rewards may be despatched on the spot throughout digital division conferences or vacation gatherings, making them easy, significant, and efficient worldwide.
Matter for Groups: Give customizable kudos to revolutionize recognition
Matter for Groups begins by making a recognition behavior referred to as Suggestions Friday, the place staff are routinely inspired and guided to supply kudos to their friends. Enterprises can make the most of Matter’s templating system to create totally customizable kudos templates to match your organization’s model, firm values, or particular occasions. Matter’s rewards platform contains present playing cards and donations from 1,500+ retailers in 80+ international locations, and you’ll create your personal firm rewards retailer for objects like merchandise or a PTO day.
“Matter for Groups has made worker recognition and rewards enjoyable and simple to make use of proper the place you’re employed,” says Matter CEO Brett Hellman. “Inside weeks, 83 % of staff actively have interaction in peer-to-peer recognition, all from computerized reminders. This uptake highlights Matter’s effectiveness in fostering a tradition of appreciation. It is not nearly software program; it is about revolutionizing how we acknowledge and reward our teammates.”
Use Matter’s analytics instruments to grasp engagement and recognition patterns. This knowledge can inform HR and administration concerning the effectiveness of recognition methods, worker morale, and areas needing enchancment. When the 12 months ends, you should use Matter’s highly effective analytics to search out which staff acquired probably the most recognition for a specific firm worth or theme after which reward these staff just about in your Matter Groups channel or in actual time.
Discover out extra concerning the apps highlighted above on the Achievers web site, the BHN Rewards web site, the Lucid web site, the Matter web site, and Ramp’s web site and Groups integration web site.
Maximize your funding in Copilot and Groups in 2024
Take a look at these assets for extra on find out how to get began with Copilot and profit from your funding in Groups apps:
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¹2022 Worker Incentives Report, NAPCO Analysis and BHN. March 2023.