Summary of Guardians of M365 Governance Episode 7
For Episode 7 of the Guardians of M365 Governance monthly webcast, a monthly TekkiGurus series, Ragnar Heil (@ragnarh) and I welcomed Joy Apple (@JoyOfSharePoint) as a new permanent co-host of the show, and then introduced fellow MVP Richard Harbridge (@rharbridge), CTO for 2toLead, as our guest. Richard has an extensive background in SharePoint and Microsoft Teams, building out intranets and information management solutions, and more recently has been working with many clients on Copilot readiness. He is a leading voice on information architecture and governance within the Microsoft expert community.
This episode focused on “Governance War Stories from the Field” and the continuous journey of Microsoft 365 governance, emphasizing that it is an ongoing process often hampered by ‘governance debt.’ This debt accumulates when organizations delay addressing governance issues until they become critical, such as during major changes like AI and Copilot rollouts. Richard stressed the importance of reviewing and configuring service settings as a first step to mitigate security risks and inefficiencies, noting that even mature organizations frequently overlook this crucial aspect.
The discussion highlighted the balance between too much and too little control in governance. Overly restrictive policies can drive employees to seek workarounds, leading to shadow IT, while lax governance can result in unmanaged sprawl and security vulnerabilities. Effective communication and continuous education about governance policies are vital in ensuring compliance and reducing employee frustration. Richard’s recounting of a particularly challenging governance scenario with a large, decentralized organization underscored the complexity and necessity of scalable, low-cost governance solutions.
We also explored the role of automation in governance tools, emphasizing that customers now expect these solutions to simplify and automate routine tasks, ultimately saving time and reducing the burden on IT departments. The introduction of new tools and features, such as Copilot, necessitates regular reviews and updates of governance practices to effectively incorporate new capabilities. To close the episode, we encouraged our viewers to share their own governance war stories and engage with the community, fostering collective learning and improvement in managing Microsoft 365 governance challenges within the governance community page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/m365governance.
If you missed the live stream, you can watch the recording here:
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