In today’s AI-driven, threat-heavy landscape, “good enough” Microsoft 365 management isn’t enough. To unpack what great looks like, we sat down with Nathan Taylor, an industry veteran who’s helped hundreds (if not thousands) of organizations maximize Microsoft 365 while meaningfully reducing risk. This conversation covers how to build a Microsoft Center of Excellence (CoE), the most common security gaps Nathan sees across tenants, and why nailing the basics creates the fastest business impact.
A Microsoft CoE is more than branding, it’s a focused operating model. It combines advisory and fulfillment with professional services. The team built around it has specialty skillsets across the Microsoft stack.
Narrow scope, deep expertise. Nathan’s division at SourcePass concentrates on Microsoft licensing and professional services. By staying out of generalized help desk work, the team builds sharper skills and faster outcomes.
Co-managed engagement. Most clients already have IT teams. The CoE augments them with specialized Microsoft capabilities. Identity, security, endpoint management, data protection, licensing optimization.
Outcome over tools. The shift from “we standardize on Vendor X” to “we deliver business outcomes on Microsoft” is well underway. Buyers now arrive with informed asks, Defender, Sentinel, Purview, Copilot, and expect partners to execute.
Bottom line: Focus creates intimacy at scale. A CoE model helps you show up as the specialist who can translate Microsoft’s breadth into business results.
More technical decision-makers. You’re no longer selling only to business owners and controllers—today’s buyers often understand Microsoft options and arrive with specific requests.
Risk is the language. Cyber insurance, M&A due diligence, board scrutiny and AI initiatives all push the conversation toward shared risk management, not just products and projects. This quickly shifts to “hey I know I am paying for Microsoft Business Premium or E5, is it configured correctly?”
AI is an accelerant. Customers use AI to research Microsoft faster than ever. If you can’t keep up (and few can, alone), you need systems and enablement to stay credible.
Before you dive into Purview, DLP, or advanced AI controls, Nathan stresses one thing: get the fundamentals right.
Common low-effort, high-impact gaps:
MFA coverage & strength. Missing, incomplete, or legacy methods (SMS/email). Limited FIDO2 adoption. Conditional Access not universal.
Dormant accounts & devices. Stale users and endpoints persist for months or years, inflating attack surface and license waste.
Email authentication. SPF/DKIM/DMARC misconfigurations—often DMARC is missing entirely—expose domains to spoofing and deliverability problems.
Defender for Office 365. Powerful, but frequently underconfigured; Microsoft adds controls regularly and environments don’t keep up.
Device protection. Intune enrollment gaps, Defender for Endpoint not fully rolled out, and BitLocker still disabled due to old myths.
Pragmatic stance: Stop chasing exotic zero-day defenses if table-stakes controls aren’t deployed. Most compromise paths still run through identity (phishing, OAuth abuse, token theft), not an obscure endpoint exploit.
Nathan runs 4–5 security posture reviews per week using a standardized rhythm with CloudCapsule. Here’s the distilled playbook you can adopt:
Book 45 minutes (not 30). Use a calendar link and state the deliverable upfront.
Secure the connection live. CloudCapsule allows you to share a link with a customer on the phone that they can consent to without having to harvest credentials. Have the customer approve the OAuth at the start (keeps you within their change-control boundaries).
Record and transcribe. Use Teams meeting recap/notes to auto-capture action items and follow-ups.
Scan top-down.
Security Score (directional only, mind Defender bias)
Cyber insurance readiness (call out missing training/backups)
Framework lens (CIS basics, highlight quick wins)
Identity (admins, MFA coverage, risky users)
Mail security (SPF/DKIM/DMARC, Defender for O365 hardening)
Devices (Intune, Defender, BitLocker, cleanup)
Policies (Conditional Access, legacy protocols)
Frame actions as outcomes. “Reduce account-takeover risk by hardening MFA and removing legacy methods,” not “Do these 11 settings.”
Send the evidence. Export the findings right after the call (it becomes their internal talking points to leadership).
Propose two paths:
Quick-wins T&M (e.g., DMARC, MFA uplift, Defender for O365 hardening)
Monthly program to show trend improvements over time.
Tone matters: Never shame. Empathy closes deals; FUD stalls them. Flag true urgency (risky users, suspicious OAuth, active token abuse) with clarity, without theatrics.
Codify the runbook. Checklist the flow, the prompts, the follow-ups, and the quoting patterns (your “standard 80%”).
Pair the skill sets. If one person can’t sell and go deep, pair an AM with a senior engineer until you develop hybrid talent.
Sell the subscription motion. Quarterly posture reviews, change tracking, and an improvement scorecard—leaders love visible progress.
Lead generation: free 45-minute review with a tangible leave-behind and two paths: Quick-wins T&M and a Quarterly posture program.
TCO story: consolidate third-party tools with Business Premium or E5 Security add-on; show net savings vs increased service fee.
Risk framing: map gaps to cyber-insurance controls and board expectations; quantify impact (likelihood × impact × time-to-remediate).
Proof quickly: before/after graphs (phish blocked, MFA coverage, DMARC alignment, device compliance).
A Microsoft CoE turns the Microsoft stack into a measurable, repeatable capability—standardizing the right way to build, secure, and adopt, then enabling everyone else to deliver it at scale.