Avanade, a leading Microsoft solutions provider, today announces that it has joined Microsoft’s Security Copilot Design Advisory Council. Members of the council are working with Microsoft product teams to help shape Security Copilot product development in several ways, including validation and refinement of new and upcoming scenarios, providing feedback on product development to be incorporated into future product releases, and validation of and feedback on APIs to assist with Security Copilot extensibility, to help organizations protect against the ever-evolving threat landscape and address the industry's growing skills gap. Avanade's membership will also strengthen its Managed Extended Detection and Response (MxDR) service, aiding organizations in quickly adopting Security Copilot for cybersecurity operations and incident management teams.

Microsoft Security Copilot is the industry's first security solution designed to empower security teams to defend at the speed and scale of artificial intelligence. A recent Gartner report* revealed that only 34% of organizations are currently using or implementing AI-driven security tools, highlighting a substantial opportunity for the adoption of solutions like Security Copilot. The Generative AI-powered security assistant enables analysts to respond to threats quickly, process signals at machine speed, and assess risk exposure in minutes. Security Copilot consolidates data from different sources into practical insights, enabling a swift response within minutes instead of hours or days.

“Microsoft Security Copilot represents a groundbreaking advancement for Security Operations teams worldwide. Through our global Microsoft MxDR service, we’re seeing up to 40% reduction in incident resolution time when modelling against current processes. Additionally, it significantly enhances the work environment for Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts by serving as their AI Security assistant for day-to-day operations,” comments Jason Revill, Global Cybersecurity CoE (Centre of Excellence) Lead at Avanade. “As a member of the design advisory council, and a private preview customer, our ability to provide meaningful feedback and see it integrated into the product has been highly rewarding. This collaboration positions us well to meet our clients' needs in the upcoming Early Access Program and beyond.”

“In today's cybersecurity landscape, security professionals are facing a constant battle against relentless attackers, often struggling to detect threats hidden in digital noise. This, compounded by a global shortage of 3.4 million security experts, is driving the critical need to use AI to bridge this talent gap,” explains Rajiv Sagar, Avanade’s Global Cybersecurity Lead. “During an attack, complexity can be a liability. Security Copilot will act as a superpower to security teams, quickly evaluating signals, identifying threats at machine speed, and proactively providing guidance to stay ahead of potential attackers. What’s more, it will adapt – support new team members, and enable security teams to do more with less, achieving the effectiveness of larger, more experienced organizations.”

“In the context of security, AI’s impact is likely to be profound, tilting the scales in favor of defenders and empowering organizations to defend at machine speed. At Microsoft, we are privileged to have a leading role in advancing AI innovation, and we are so grateful to our incredible ecosystem of partners, whose mission-driven work is critical to helping customers secure their organizations and confidently bring the many benefits of AI into their environments.” said Vasu Jakkal, Corporate Vice President, Microsoft Security.

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Notes to Editors:
*https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-09-18-gartner-survey-revealed-34-percent-of-organizations-are-already-using-or-implementing-ai-application-security-tools

Avanade is the leading provider of innovative digital, cloud and advisory services, industry solutions and design-led experiences across the Microsoft ecosystem. Every day, our 60,000 professionals in 26 countries make a genuine human impact for our clients, their employees and their customers.
We have been recognized, together with our parent Accenture, as Microsoft’s Global SI Partner of the Year more than any other company. With the most Microsoft certifications (60,000+) and 18 (out of 18) Gold-level Microsoft competencies, we are uniquely positioned to help businesses grow and solve their toughest challenges.
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Majority owned by Accenture, Avanade was founded in 2000 by Accenture LLP and Microsoft Corporation. Learn more at http://www.avanade.com/.