IT Director Cliff DuPuy will speak with the board during its regular meeting Wednesday about renewing the annual subscription for all Microsoft 365 products — including word processing, spreadsheet and other applications — used within the county, totaling $398,083.80.
The renewal’s funding request, which received prior approval in this year’s budget, increased $36,000 to accommodate for Copilot licensing. According to the request, the additional 100 Copilot licenses would require the board’s approval of a budget addition and adjustment.
Grand Traverse County Administrator Nate Alger said Tuesday the county’s discussion surrounding AI use begins with careful implementation.
“We’ve been talking about the Copilot piece of this, recognizing that, ultimately, our goal is to use the Microsoft version of AI,” Alger said.
The county’s existing subscription to Microsoft 365 applications, Alger said, would connect seamlessly with Copilot, allowing for better integration.
“Copilot bolts right onto 365,” he said. “If we have 27 different offices and departments, we’re kind of ballparking how many people in each office would like to take this as a test drive.”
Out of roughly 580 employees, county officials opted to request 100 additional Copilot licenses.
“We can get less than that if the board chooses to go down,” Alger said, explaining that there isn’t any cost savings for the number of licenses the county chooses to purchase. “So we’ve thumb-nailed 100 of them moving forward.”
The administrator said most county devices have a deactivated version of Copilot that cannot be accessed without individual licensing registration.
“We have not turned it on,” Alger said. “It’s there, it’s present, you can see it but it’s not functional.”
According to the board action request, implementation of Microsoft’s Copilot would be contingent on approval of a Center of Excellence in AI, employees completing AI technical training and execution of an AI Agreement by all participating employees.
“The center of excellence, it’s not an office, it’s not a space,” Alger said. “It’s a kind of framework idea of how we are going to handle AI.”
Alger noted that DuPuy’s recommendations will guide the process.
“The recommendations here from Cliff are a good set of recommendations,” he said. “Just to make sure we do it correctly and that you know how to use the product as best as you can and how you don’t get into trouble with it.”
Alger further explained that the annual subscription renewal cost rose $4,000 from previous totals to include the use of an active directory.
According to Alger and Microsoft’s summary of the service, the Azure Active Directory, now called Microsoft Entra ID, is a cloud-based identity and access management service compatible with Microsoft 365. It allows users to input the same credentials for on-premises and cloud resources. The integration provides a simplified user experience and easier overall management, as well as better security.
“We were on a P1 (license) Azure Active Directory,” Alger said. “This year we went to a P2 (license), which offers more functionality and security.”
Microsoft highlights that P2 licensing has the same features as P1, but also provides advanced, AI-based protection by incorporating real-time risk monitoring and broader account management. P2 licenses are described as more suitable for entities with advanced security needs that also require protection against unauthorized access. During the summer of 2024, the IT department underwent a review following a ransomware attack. A budget plan was outlined with an emphasis on modernizing technology and improving security, leading city and county operations to separate their IT services.
The county’s Microsoft licensing is set to expire Oct. 15. Pending approval from county commissioners, the Microsoft 365 subscription renewal will extend for one year.
The board will meet at 9 a.m. Wednesday in the second floor Commission Chambers at the Governmental Center, 400 Boardman Ave., Traverse City.
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