Challenge

Legacy Permission Complexity Threatened AI-Powered Productivity Vision

Encore Technologies, a technology services company serving major enterprise clients across multiple sectors, recognized Microsoft Copilot’s transformative potential for productivity. The ability to use natural language to sift through their extensive library of information could assist employees in countless ways. But as an IT consulting firm that had evolved significantly over the past decade, they faced a critical challenge: ensuring their data permission structures could support AI tools safely.

The Microsoft ecosystem presented particular complexities. As Mike explained, “The sharing of information can be supported in a variety of ways and many times, its permission structure is not well understood by the data owner.”

Over years of growth, configuration drift and oversharing of data due to overpermissions had become a persistent challenge. Traditional audits of infrastructure were becoming “cumbersome and time-consuming” given the layers of permissions across various applications that might house sensitive data.

Encore needed to ensure that business information and project documentation would not be broadly visible to Copilot and consumed by people who should not have access to it.

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Solution

Opsin Delivered Systematic Visibility Into Permission Complexity

➡️ Understanding Sensitive Data and Risk Discovery
Encore Technologies partnered with Opsin to gain visibility into their permission structures before deploying Copilot broadly. Rather than hoping traditional audit methods would catch everything, Opsin’s automated approach systematically identified where sensitive business information was overexposed and what AI tools would be able to access.

The assessment process began with collaboration across teams. Working closely with legal, finance, HR, and operations, Encore developed a process around understanding what is considered sensitive for their organization that should be protected once they deploy AI tools and should only be accessed by permitted users.

➡️ Focused Assessment Reveals Oversharing Patterns
Within days, Opsin delivered a focused assessment that identified oversharing patterns across Encore’s Microsoft 365 environment. Targeting what mattered most to the company, the findings revealed how configuration drift had created exposure points to be reviewed by the security team.

Most importantly, Opsin provided visibility into root causes rather than just symptoms. Instead of presenting dozens of individual file issues, the platform traced problems back to underlying configuration weaknesses, whether at the folder level, file level, Teams settings, or SharePoint site permissions.

➡️ Systematic Remediation Without IT Overload
Opsin provided clear remediation guidance that enabled Encore to systematically address the highest-risk exposures. The approach focused on strengthening control over sensitive data first, ensuring that critical business information was properly secured before expanding AI access.

The platform offered tools to connect with site, file, and folder owners, enabling distributed remediation without overwhelming central IT. This approach addressed the reality that many oversharing issues stem from human error and require both decentralized action and organizational education.

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Ongoing Impact

Continuous Monitoring Enables Confident Innovation

Today, Opsin helps Encore Technologies proactively monitor their Microsoft 365 environment for oversharing and configuration drift as the company continues evolving their technology architecture. The continuous monitoring capability addresses a core need: catching permission issues and reinforcing with security that their sensitive data is protected from Copilot’s broad reach.

The comprehensive assessment gave Encore’s leadership team the confidence to proceed with Microsoft Copilot deployment, knowing that permission structures had been systematically evaluated and strengthened.

Looking ahead, Encore is expanding their partnership with Opsin to include continuous monitoring into the broad reach of AI at Encore, ensuring that as Copilot adoption grows across the organization, their least privilege principles remain intact while enabling AI-powered productivity gains.

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Results

Enhanced Data Controls, AI Innovation Enabled

✅ Permission Structure Visibility
Systematic evaluation of Microsoft 365 environment revealed oversharing patterns and root causes, enabling targeted remediation rather than piecemeal fixes.

✅ Risk Assessment Delivered Rapidly
Comprehensive evaluation completed in days, providing clear prioritization of security improvements across complex, layered infrastructure.

✅ Confidence to Deploy AI Tools
Leadership gained visibility into permission complexity, enabling informed decision-making about Copilot deployment while maintaining security principles.

✅ Continuous Monitoring Framework
Ongoing oversight ensures oversharing, configuration drift, and misuse of Copilot are identified and remediated in ways that protect Encore from unnecessary risk.

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Looking Ahead

Sustainable AI Adoption with Mature Security Controls

With Opsin’s systematic assessment complete and continuous monitoring in place, Encore Technologies can confidently pursue the productivity gains that Microsoft Copilot promises. The partnership ensures that as the company continues maturing operationally, their security and privacy strategy evolves alongside their technology architecture, maintaining the least privilege principles critical to their business while enabling innovation.