M365 Changelog: (Updated) People-centric search in Microsoft Search

MC320462 – Updated April 21, 2022: Microsoft has updated the rollout timeline below. Thank you for your patience.

This new feature, People-centric search (MC275345 – August) will soon roll out to Microsoft Search. This update will allow people in your organization to find content through people and understand people through their content.

This message is associated with Microsoft 365 Roadmap ID 68783.

When this will happen:

  • Targeted release (entire org): will begin rolling out in mid-March (previously early February) and be complete in late March (previously late February).
  • Standard release: will begin rolling out in mid-July (previously early April) and expect to complete rollout late July (previously mid-April).

How this will affect your organization:

There is no impact as a result of this change. Once rolled out, individuals in your organization will be able to easily find content through people they work with. Users will only need to click on people suggestions in the search box and a results page will take them to a people centric view, where they can add query terms to further refine their search.

What you need to do to prepare:

You might want to notify your users about this new capability and update your training and documentation as appropriate.