Robust Data Governance and Quality Control for Microsoft 365 Copilot for Financial Services 

As organisations prepare to roll out Microsoft 365 Copilot – an AI-driven tool designed to enhance productivity and data management – having a robust governance framework becomes critical. They can further enhance their governance and AI confidence with a unified platform that strengthens data oversight, governance, and compliance.  

This blog explores how the AvePoint Confidence Platform helps organisations close internal readiness gaps, secure sensitive information, and optimise data management practices for a responsible and effective Copilot deployment.

Microsoft 365 Copilot and Data Governance Needs

Copilot, integrated within the powerful Microsoft 365 (M365) ecosystem, offers immense productivity potential. However, for financial services organisations, this value is overshadowed by significant compliance and security risks. The ease with which Copilot can access and potentially share what could be sensitive data raises concerns about adherence to internal rules and external regulations. Banks thus face some difficult choices: limiting Copilot’s rollout, disabling key features, or investing heavily in complex and often manual permission management and risk reporting.  

Microsoft’s approach to data governance needs is centred around Microsoft Purview and E5 licensing. While this response addresses rights management well, it does not address how easy it is to share documents in M365. This level of accessibility, coupled with how much data is stored in SharePoint Online and OneDrive, makes data quality a challenge.

AvePoint provides the automation, controls, and reporting required to establish a strong foundation of data quality for Copilot. It addresses permission controls, reduces oversharing risks, and manages the information lifecycle of documents and workspaces, helping organisations reap better ROI from their Copilot investment. 

Internal Governance Challenges in Financial Services

Financial services organisations face several internal challenges that necessitate the adoption of robust governance solutions. These challenges include: 

Oversharing Risks in Sensitive Content Management

The introduction of Copilot has highlighted the need to identify and adjust oversharing and sensitive content within the tenant across different Microsoft 365 workloads. This is crucial to prevent data breaches and ensure compliance with regulatory requirements.  

Increased budget and urgency around AI tools like Copilot mean more data is being accessed and surfaced faster, making strong data governance and compliance controls essential to avoid breaches and regulatory violations.

Labelling Gaps in Risk Management

Most customers have outdated labelling strategies and may not own automatic labelling with E5. This situation creates challenges in managing sensitive content effectively and necessitates alternative solutions to reduce oversharing and overexposure without blocking collaboration. One example is when internal investment strategy documents are inadvertently accessible to non-authorised business units. Solutions include adjusting permissions and using mechanisms like risk definitions and permission reporting.

Exposure Blind Spots From Permission Reporting and Shadow Users

With the collaboration tools used by financial services, keeping up with exposure along with knowing who has access to sensitive content is becoming a challenge. The presence of shadow users – individuals who have access to sensitive content without being listed as owners or members – poses a significant risk that must be managed through effective policies and reporting mechanisms. For instance, a former analyst who still has access to confidential mergers and acquisitions (M&A) deal folders could unintentionally expose sensitive information. The permission reporting process helps understand the type of exposure and who has permission to access sensitive content.

Technical Debt in SharePoint

Issues such as broken inheritance and overexposure in SharePoint can arise from legacy permissions and outdated security groups that grant excessive access to users. These configurations, when left unchecked, can create blind spots where sensitive financial data is accessible far beyond its intended audience. Addressing these technical debt issues is essential not only to reduce the risk of unauthorised access but also to restore confidence in the organisation’s data governance posture. Labelling high-risk sites and creating policies to fix common challenges are thus necessary steps in strengthening control.

ROT Challenges in Storage and Data Quality 

The speed at which data is being generated is causing challenges amongst many organisations is resulting in quick and unexpected storage growth (and cost) and reducing data quality. Conducting redundant, obsolete, and trivial (ROT) analysis helps identify low-value content that may otherwise clutter environments and increase unnecessary risk. By archiving or defensibly disposing of such data, financial services organisations can ensure only relevant, high-quality information remains accessible. This not only strengthens compliance and governance but also lays the groundwork for a more effective and secure Copilot implementation.

Analytics Gaps in Microsoft 365 Copilot Usage

Microsoft’s native analytics for M365 and Copilot offer a foundational level of insight but fall short in key areas needed for comprehensive, data-driven decision-making. Organisations require access to both current and historical analytics beyond native capabilities to understand M365 usage across workloads. This enables the identification of ideal Copilot candidates based on adoption and engagement patterns. Granular filtering by human resources information system (HRIS) attributes like department, location, and job title enhances visibility, while controlled anonymisation ensures compliance. Access to modelled datasets further supports advanced analysis and strategic planning, maximising ROI on Copilot and M365 investments. 

The AvePoint Confidence Platform: Your Strategic Governance Solution

To help financial services organisations meet internal data governance needs, ensure Copilot readiness, and enhance data security, the AvePoint Confidence Platform delivers a unified solution tailored to the sector’s regulatory and operational requirements: 

Unified Governance and Lifecycle Management

The Confidence Platform enforces consistent governance policies across Microsoft 365 and Power Platform, automating provisioning and lifecycle management of Teams, SharePoint sites, and Groups. This reduces the risk of shadow IT, ensures regulatory compliance, and supports secure collaboration across deal teams and client-facing units.

Automated Risk Insights and Exposure Control

AvePoint’s Confidence Platform delivers actionable insights on data sensitivity, access patterns, and overexposure — enabling prioritised remediation of high-risk content such as unsecured investment reports or legacy folders accessible to unauthorised users.

Data Security and ROT Optimisation

With the Confidence Platform, organisations can uncover risks across OneDrive and SharePoint while also performing ROT analysis to defensibly dispose of low-value data. This enhances Copilot readiness and reduces the risk of AI hallucinations by ensuring only relevant, high-quality data is surfaced.

Microsoft Copilot 365 Readiness and Adoption Intelligence

With its deep visibility into how Copilot and Microsoft 365 are being used across the workforce, the Confidence Platform highlights adoption trends, identifies champions.  It also uncovers underutilised assets like inactive Teams or SharePoint sites to drive targeted enablement.

Strategic License Allocation and Executive Insights

With predictive analytics, organisations can optimise Copilot license allocation based on usage probability and business need. Leadership dashboards offer visibility into adoption, collaboration, and governance trends — supporting data-driven decisions aligned with digital transformation goals.

Securing Microsoft 365 Copilot Success with Strategic Governance

For organisations eager to address internal data challenges, achieve Copilot readiness, and enhance their governance strategy, leveraging the AvePoint Confidence Platform is essential. It equips organisations with the capabilities to manage sensitive content, reduce oversharing, maximise ROI from Microsoft investments, and ensure compliance with data security regulations.

Utilising the Confidence Platform creates significant synergies, offering a unified solution for data protection and resilience, governance, security, and compliance. This integrated approach positions financial services organisations to confidently embrace AI-driven productivity, paving the way for a successful Copilot rollout that delivers genuine business transformation.