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You pay for the full Microsoft 365 suite, but your people only use half of it. Files are scattered across personal folders, mailboxes and SharePoint sites nobody manages. And in the meantime, laptops stay unpatched for months.
In this guide, we set out how to manage Microsoft 365 as one secure and well-organised workplace, based on the projects we run with our clients.
What does Microsoft 365 management involve?
Managing Microsoft 365 means that someone continuously looks after your users, devices, files and security within Microsoft 365. Think of accounts and access rights in Entra ID, laptops through Intune, collaboration in Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, and security with Defender.
Good management makes sure your licences pay off, your data stays secure and your environment is ready for Copilot and other AI applications.
Where does it get stuck?
In many organisations, Microsoft 365 has grown organically. Anyone can create a Team, external sharing is wide open and nobody knows which SharePoint site is still current. Employees have access to sensitive data without anyone consciously deciding so. Governance exists on paper, but is not applied in practice.
The steps below bring structure to this.
Step 1: map your environment and your ways of working
Look at your current Microsoft 365 environment and at how your teams collaborate today. Which licences do you have, which features do you use, where are your files and who has access to what?
Step 2: set up governance and a security baseline
Decide who may create Teams and SharePoint sites, how you share externally and how long you keep data. Label sensitive documents, so the protection travels with the document.
Also set a security baseline: multi-factor authentication for everyone, conditional access in Entra ID and protection of devices and accounts with Defender XDR. That foundation is also needed for Copilot, because Copilot works with the permissions your users have today.
Step 3: manage your devices with Intune and Autopilot
With Microsoft Intune, you manage laptops and smartphones centrally. A new laptop configures itself through Autopilot as soon as the employee signs in, updates and patches are rolled out automatically and you wipe a lost device remotely. That way every device follows the same rules, at home or on the road too.
Step 4: organise collaboration
Give Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive a clear structure. Personal files belong in OneDrive, teamwork in Teams and company-wide information on a SharePoint intranet. Migrate existing files in a structured way and classify them straight away.
Step 5: make sure your people can keep up
A well-organised environment only helps when people know how to use it. Short learning moments in OASE, support from Digital Coaches and functional Microsoft 365 training make sure new features actually get used. That means fewer questions for your service desk and more return on your licences.
Step 6: keep managing and optimising
Microsoft 365 changes every month. Follow up on new features and security updates, monitor your compliance and check regularly whether your licences still match what your people use.
What should you look for in a Microsoft 365 partner?
Does the partner look at security, collaboration and adoption together?
Does the partner help you define your governance and also apply it?
Does the partner have experience with Intune, Autopilot and Defender?
How does the partner guide your people through new features?
Does the partner keep managing your environment and monitoring your licences?
How Xylos approaches Microsoft 365
Xylos is a Belgian family-owned tech company headquartered in Antwerp, with forty years of experience and more than 150 certified experts. Xylos is a Microsoft Solutions Partner for AI Business Solutions, with the Adoption and Change Management and Modernize Endpoints specialisations, and for Security.
Xylos works in three domains. Secure Workplace lays the foundation with Intune and Autopilot, Defender XDR and Entra ID. Workplace Productivity sets up Teams, SharePoint and OneDrive, with governance, data migration, training and licence optimisation. Learning, OASE and PlayForward make sure your people can keep up, with microlearning, Digital Coaches and adoption programmes.
A project runs in four steps: exploration, architecture and governance, phased execution, and adoption and management through Managed Services. That is how Xylos has managed the Microsoft 365 environment of an international industrial group for fourteen years.
Ready for a conversation?
Curious how much you get out of your Microsoft 365 licences? Plan an exploratory conversation with our experts.