Microsoft, OpenText Execs: Copilot Opportunities Remain Massive For MSPs

In order to help users get the maximum satisfaction from Microsoft 365 Copilot, ‘we need MSPs to go out there and have these conversations with their end customers,’ Microsoft’s Jason Jones told MSP executives Monday.

While user satisfaction with Microsoft 365 Copilot is on the rise, the opportunities remain substantial for MSPs to advise and guide customers around many aspects of the popular GenAI software, a Microsoft executive said Monday.

Microsoft’s Jason Jones (pictured right) and OpenText’s Andrew Murphy (pictured left) addressed MSP executives at XChange March 2025, which is hosted by CRN parent The Channel Company and being held this week in Orlando, Florida.

Many customers continue to need assistance around foundational issues such as data governance and cybersecurity in order to adopt Microsoft 365 Copilot in a broad fashion across their organization, while training around the actual usage of the tool is crucial as well, the Microsoft and OpenText executives said during the session Monday.

Adopting Copilot is tantamount to giving every employee an assistant of their own — and “it’s through MSPs that we can make that happen,” said Jones, director of global partner solutions at Microsoft.

Notably, “we are starting to see a higher level of satisfaction [with Copilot],” Jones said. “Initially, when it came out, it was let loose in the wild. We need MSPs to go out there and have these conversations with their end customers.”

For OpenText — which has a long-running alliance with Microsoft and can assist MSPs with Microsoft licensing, rebates and support — the success of Copilot is a sign that GenAI is only “going to start moving faster” moving forward, said Murphy, senior director of product marketing at OpenText.

“This is the opportunity to dig in and to understand more about how you can build service offerings around it,” he said.

There’s no question that the opportunities continue to abound for helping customers with adopting Copilot and other AI-powered tools, said Alieu Kamara, CTO at AmaraTech IT Solutions, a Columbia, Md.-based MSP.

For instance, AmaraTech has provided training to a number of customers around the use of Copilot, Kamara said.

As more and more customers have recognized at this point, AI is not going anywhere — it’s here to stay,” he said.

AmaraTech also partners with OpenText around many of its cybersecurity offerings, including the company’s new managed detection and response (MDR) offering that debuted in December.

The offering provides partners with a 24/7 Security Operations Center service featuring more than 400 integrations to other security tools, including third-party products, executives said.

OpenText MDR provides a 24/7 Security Operations Center service featuring more than 400 integrations to other security tools, including third-party products. The platform is based upon OpenText’s acquisition of the Pillr platform from solution and service provider Novacoast in May 2024.

Demand for OpenText MDR has been strong, and the offering has been “working very well” for customers of AmaraTech so far, Kamara said.

Without a doubt, MDR is a “huge opportunity” for OpenText and its MSP partners, OpenText’s Murphy said Monday.

And crucially, MDR is not just about endpoints, but can increasingly be framed as extending across the customer environment, he said.

“Think about the overall cybersecurity environment where you can add value as a partner,” Murphy said. “As a partner, you can add value around MDR [and endpoint detection and response] — extending it from the endpoint security that you have.”