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Collaboration and productivity

The collaboration layer of Microsoft 365: Teams for chat and meetings, SharePoint and OneDrive for files, Outlook and the Office apps, and the Microsoft 365 suites, including Microsoft 365 E7, that bundle them with security and AI.

2 technology profiles in this area

Overview

Each team in Microsoft Teams creates a Microsoft 365 group, a SharePoint site and document library, an Exchange Online shared mailbox and calendar, and a OneNote notebook. SharePoint holds shared content and sites; OneDrive holds personal and draft files that stay private until shared.

Because Copilot and agents read through Microsoft Graph with existing permissions, tidy SharePoint and OneDrive content now matters for AI as well as for security. SharePoint Advanced Management adds oversharing reports, site lifecycle policies, Restricted Access Control and Restricted Content Discovery.

Microsoft 365 E7, generally available since May 1, 2026, bundles Microsoft 365 E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent 365 with Entra Suite and advanced Defender, Intune and Purview capabilities, and is offered with or without Teams.

Many organizations already own most of these tools through current licenses, so check entitlements before buying a higher suite.123

Problems it addresses

  • Overshared sites2

    SharePoint sharing defaults to the most permissive setting. Data access governance reports find sites shared with the whole organization and those with many sharing links.

  • Stale and ownerless sites2

    Site lifecycle policies detect inactive and ownerless sites and notify owners, and Microsoft 365 Archive moves them out of active storage.

  • Accidental deletion or malicious overwrites2

    Microsoft 365 Backup keeps immutable backups inside the Microsoft 365 trust boundary.

  • Suite sprawl3

    E7 combines E5, Microsoft 365 Copilot and Agent 365 in one license for organizations buying all three.

A typical workflow

  1. Plan team structure1

    Create teams from Microsoft 365 groups so each gets its own SharePoint site, mailbox and notebook.

  2. Assess and fix oversharing2

    Run the Content Management Assessment and data access governance reports in SharePoint Advanced Management.

  3. Label and retain4

    Apply sensitivity labels and retention so Copilot and agents respect them.

  4. Choose the suite3

    Compare current entitlements with E7, which adds Copilot and Agent 365 to E5.

  5. Roll out Copilot in the apps5

    Enable Copilot in Teams, Outlook and the Office apps for licensed users, starting with meeting summaries and email drafting.

Technologies

  • Suite

    Microsoft 365 E7

    Microsoft 365 E7, which Microsoft calls The Frontier Suite, is a per-user license that adds Microsoft Copilot, Microsoft Agent 365 and the Microsoft Entra Suite on top of everything in Microsoft 365 E5. It became generally available on 1 May 2026 and is sold with and without Teams.

    • Programs
    • Security
    • Agents
    • Copilot and apps
  • Cloud application

    Microsoft Teams

    Microsoft Teams is Microsoft 365's hub for chat, channels, meetings, calling and file collaboration. Each team is backed by a Microsoft 365 group, a SharePoint site and an Exchange mailbox, and Teams is also a main place where Copilot and agents meet users.

    • Copilot and apps
    • Data
    • Agents

Use cases

Documented implementations

Copilot Readiness Check

Is your organization ready for Microsoft 365 Copilot, and what to fix first.

Open the lab

Next steps

  1. Run the SharePoint Content Management Assessment and repeat it every 30 days.

  2. Set a site ownership policy that requires a minimum number of owners per site.

  3. Compare the cost of E7 with your current suite plus add-ons before switching.

Connected areas

Sources

  1. Introduction to Microsoft Teams for admins (Microsoft Learn) (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Vendor-reported
  2. Get ready for Microsoft Copilot with SharePoint Advanced Management (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Vendor-reported
  3. Introducing the First Frontier Suite built on Intelligence + Trust (Official Microsoft Blog, 9 March 2026) (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Vendor-reported
  4. Microsoft Purview data security and compliance protections for Microsoft 365 Copilot and other generative AI apps (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Vendor-reported
  5. What is Microsoft Copilot? (opens in a new tab)Microsoft · Vendor-reported

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