Copilot Agents for SharePoint Pay As You Go Pricing

Posted on 19 Mar at 5:15 am

Organizations are always on the lookout for ways to boost their operations and productivity. They’re also looking to save money! Microsoft announced a new pricing model to help with that.

Microsoft recently rolled out a new consumption-based pricing model for SharePoint agents, which is a big change in how organizations can handle their SharePoint agent costs. This cool new approach lets businesses pay based on actual usage, giving them more flexibility and cost savings compared to buying tons of M365 Copilot license.

In this blog post, we’ll dive into the details of this new pricing model, checking out the benefits, potential challenges, and real-world examples of how to put this to use. So, let’s jump right in and see how the consumption-based pricing model for SharePoint agents can change the way your organization manages SharePoint Online.

Overview of Copilot Agents for SharePoint

Copilot agents for SharePoint are handy tools and services within SharePoint Online that help you automate tasks and reason over content. They can do a bunch of things. Think about keeping an eye on site activity, managing permissions, and automating workflows. Sure, they’re a bit basic right now, but it’s far easier than trying to develop a custom solution. It’s definitely going to get better as well, since Copilot Studio integration is coming at some point. That’ll let you customize these agents dramatically.

Here are some features of SharePoint agents:

Customization:
In addition to the default agent on a SharePoint site, users with appropriate rights can create their own to suit their needs.
Content Management: They help you understand and reason over documents with ease.
Seamless: They are integrated directly into SharePoint.
Security: They ensure your content is secure and access is properly managed.

By using Copilot Agents for SharePoint, you can boost productivity, enhance the user experience, and keep better control over your SharePoint environment. These agents are really helpful in getting the most out of your SharePoint and Copilot investment.

What is Consumption-Based Pricing?

Consumption-based pricing, also known as pay-as-you-go pricing, is a model where you only pay for what you actually use. Instead of a fixed rate, your costs are based on your usage. This helps you manage your organization’s costs way more accurately since you’re not paying for Copilot licenses you don’t use.

The previous licensing model required an M365 Copilot license to access SharePoint agents. That gets a little pricey! With consumption-based pricing, your costs match your usage, making it a more flexible and budget-friendly option. You can mix and match licenses and augment them with consumption pricing so that all users can access agent in SharePoint.

Many cloud services, like Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS), already use this pricing model successfully. It benefits organizations of all sizes by allowing them to scale services up or down as needed without extra costs. So it’s not really a new thing. Even SharePoint Premium features operate this way, making it easier to use in specific situations.

Details of the New Pricing Model

The new consumption-based pricing model for Copilot Agents for SharePoint is here to make managing your SharePoint usage easier and more cost-effective. Here’s how it works:

Under the PAYGO model, customers are billed $0.01 per message. Each interaction with a SharePoint agent uses thirty-two (32) messages, so customers are billed at $0.32 per interaction with SharePoint agents.

For example, if you use SharePoint agents a lot during a big project but less afterward, you only pay for the higher usage during the project. This flexibility means your SharePoint costs match your actual needs.

Benefits of Consumption-Based Pricing

The consumption-based pricing model has some awesome benefits for orgs using SharePoint agents:

Cost-Effectiveness: You only pay for what you use, so no more overpaying for stuff you don’t need. This is really handy for businesses with changing usage patterns.
Budgeting and Forecasting: With detailed usage reports and cost transparency, you can manage your budget better and plan for the future. This helps you make smarter decisions.
Resource Optimization: By understanding how you use SharePoint agents, you can find ways to improve and get the most out of them, boosting efficiency and productivity.

These benefits make the consumption-based pricing model a great choice for organizations looking to get the most out of their SharePoint Online experience while keeping costs in check. A big use case that makes sense with this is an organization that can’t afford to license everyone, but has a high-value use case. Something like an IT Helpdesk assistant to help users with technical issues. Perhaps something with a more direct ROI like an agent that can answer questions about sales proposals. For specific scenarios, it makes a lot of sense.

Potential Challenges and Considerations

Even though the consumption-based pricing model has lots of perks, there are a few issues and things to keep in mind:

Keeping an Eye on Usage: It’s important to track how much you’re using to avoid surprise costs. Using tools and setting up processes to monitor usage can help manage this.
Managing the Budget: Since usage can go up and down, costs can vary, making budgeting a bit tricky. It’s a good idea to come up with strategies to forecast and handle these changes.
Smart Resource Allocation: Making sure resources are used efficiently is key to getting the most out of this model. Regular reviews and tweaks to usage patterns might be needed.
Training and Awareness: Your team might need some training to understand how their actions impact costs with this new model. Raising awareness about efficient usage can help keep expenses in check. This is best accomplished with training users on how to create a good prompt for AI. This reduces the amount of interactions required to get the information they need.
Getting Vendor Support: Make sure you have good support from Microsoft or your SharePoint service provider to handle any issues or questions about the new pricing model.

By solving these challenges, you can make the most of the consumption-based pricing model and minimize any potential downsides.

Conclusion

The new consumption-based pricing model for SharePoint agents is a big step forward in helping organizations adopt Copilot agents without spending a fortune. Instead of paying a fixed price, you only pay for what you actually use. This means more flexibility, scalability, and cost savings. Plus, you can budget more accurately, optimize your resources, and adapt to changing needs without stressing over expenses.

I recommend checking out the links below to see how SharePoint agents can benefit your organization.