“Achieving great data governance standards is not only a possibility, it is also a responsibility. Technology’s potential is, and always must be, rooted in the faith people have in it” – Tim Cook, CEO, Apple
Data is not only an invaluable source for organizations but can also be a liability if not handled well and protected from cyberattacks. While it has the potential to grow your business and amplify your revenue, it can even turn things upside down in the blink of an eye.
With the growing demand for data-driven decision making, businesses these days are collecting, and generating huge amounts of data. While this data can be extremely useful, it can also be a tough challenge to tackle it efficiently. This is where effective data governance plays a crucial role.
According to Gartner, 27% of data used by the largest corporations across the world is erroneous. It also stated that through 2023, 40% of all AI and ML projects will produce poor results due to inaccurate data, algorithms, and biases within the data.
Microsoft Purview, the current talk of the town, promises to be a highly advanced and efficient data governance solution which is being increasingly employed by organizations all over the world. Let’s learn about what actually this Microsoft Purview is, and how it is different and effective from other popular data governance tools and technologies in the market.
What is Microsoft Purview?
Microsoft Purview is a ground-breaking data governance solution that can help your organization govern, protect, and manage data. Even in this age of AI, Purview helps businesses safeguard their data. It aids in giving enterprises complete control over their data, allowing them to manage it efficiently while reducing potential security risks and meeting compliance requirements.
It is a unified suite for data governance, security, and risk management. Microsoft Purview enables you to discover, classify, and manage your data assets across your entire organization, whether they are located on-premises or in the cloud. It also stands as a unique solution that’s inherently compatible with Microsoft Copilot within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Purview provides integrated coverage and helps address data fragmentation problems across organizations. It is designed to give you visibility into assets across your entire data estate. And, help you leverage that visibility to manage end-to-end data risks and regulatory compliance in a new, more comprehensive, and simpler way.
Distinguishing Features of Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is a data governance solution that helps organizations manage their data across on-premises, multi-cloud, and software-as-a-service (SaaS) environments. Some of the important features that distinguish Purview from other data governance solutions are as follows:
1. Data Governance
Microsoft Purview offers a comprehensive toolset for data governance, including automated data discovery, sensitive data classification, and policy management.
It allows you to create a holistic, up-to-date map of your data estate and make sure that your data is compliant with regulatory requirements.
2. Unified Data Discovery
Purview offers a unified approach to data discovery. It allows you to easily access and make sense of data across your entire data estate, saving you a lot of time and effort.
With Purview, you can find data from on-premises databases, cloud databases, SaaS data, and any other data source or platform.
3. Efficient Data Cataloging
Purview’s centralized data catalog allows you to easily manage and organize your data assets. One can create a business glossary, manage metadata, and track data lineage and impact analysis, with the help of Purview.
4. Data Lineage and Impact Analysis
Another standout feature of Purview is its ability to provide end-to-end data lineage and impact analysis. This allows you to track data flow across your data estate.
Purview makes it easy to identify data source, trace its lineage, and comprehend its impact on downstream systems.
5. Risk and Compliance Management
Purview’s comprehensive set of tools for risk and compliance management include data classification, policy management, and data protection.
These tools will ensure that your data is compliant with regulatory requirements and protect it from unauthorized access.
Use Cases of Microsoft Purview
1. Review Office Message Encrypted (OME) Emails
Microsoft Purview allows legal, HR, or other professionals to review Office Message Encrypted (OME) emails within Purview eDiscovery. This involves leveraging the data discovery and classification capabilities of Purview to identify and catalog OME emails across various data sources, including Office 365 and other repositories. Once identified, Purview can apply automated classification to these emails based on sensitivity and compliance requirements, enabling organizations to enforce appropriate access controls and data protection measures.
2. Scan Documents in OneDrive
Microsoft Purview can be employed for scanning OneDrive as part of its data discovery and classification capabilities. By integrating with OneDrive, Purview can automatically scan and catalog the data stored within OneDrive accounts, providing organizations with a comprehensive view of their data assets. This is particularly beneficial for organizations seeking to gain visibility into the types of data stored in OneDrive, classify the data based on sensitivity, and enforce data governance policies
3. Comprehensive Metadata Management
Microsoft Purview’s metadata management capabilities enable organizations to automatically scan, catalog, and track metadata from diverse data sources. By doing so businesses can gain comprehensive insights into data lineage, origins, and transformations. By standardizing and enriching metadata, Purview ensures consistency and accuracy, supporting data governance and compliance efforts. Additionally, effective metadata management facilitates data analysis and insights, empowering organizations to make informed decisions based on a clear understanding of data structures and relationships.
4. Design Communication Compliance Policies
Using Microsoft Purview, organizations can design communication compliance policies by leveraging its data discovery and classification capabilities to gain insights into communication data. This includes monitoring and enforcing policies for email, instant messaging, and collaboration platforms to ensure compliance with industry regulations. By aligning communication practices with data protection laws and internal governance standards, organizations can mitigate risks and safeguard sensitive information, thereby promoting secure and compliant communication practices.
5 Benefits of Microsoft Purview
Improved Data Collaboration
Microsoft Purview’s centralized data catalog helps enhance data collaboration by facilitating data access to different teams across your organization. This fosters better communication and collaboration between teams, leading to better decision-making and efficient workflows.
Real-time Insights and Monitoring
With its real-time insights and data monitoring capabilities, Microsoft Purview allows you to track data usage, identify potential issues, and take corrective actions. This feature ensures that your data is always up-to-date, accurate, and secure, all the time.
Workflow Automation
Microsoft Purview reduces manual efforts by automating various data management tasks, such as data discovery, classification, and lineage tracking. This saves time and allows your team to focus on more strategic tasks.
Scalability and Integration
Microsoft Purview is highly scalable and has the capability of large volumes of data efficiently. It also integrates with other Microsoft services, such as Azure Data Factory and Power BI, as well as third-party services, making it easy to incorporate into your existing data infrastructure.
Cost Effectiveness
By streamlining data management processes and automating many manual and redundant tasks. Microsoft Purview can minimize your operational costs significantly. It also eliminates the need for multiple data management tools, reducing licensing and maintenance costs.
Best Practices for Deploying Microsoft Purview
1. Define Clear Objectives
Clearly define the objectives and goals of implementing Purview within your organization. Understand what you aim to achieve with data governance, data discovery, and data cataloging.
2. Establish Governance Policies
Develop and implement data governance policies that align with your organization’s regulatory requirements, security standards, and data management practices.
3. Data Classification and Tagging
Classify and tag your data assets to ensure consistent and accurate metadata management. Establish a taxonomy for organizing and categorizing data assets.
4. Data Source Integration
Integrate a wide range of data sources into Purview to enable comprehensive data discovery and cataloging. This includes Azure services, on-premises data sources, and other cloud services.
5. Data Lineage Tracking
Leverage Purview’s data lineage capabilities to track the flow of data across your organization’s systems and understand data relationships.
6. Collaboration and Access Control
Implement collaboration features within Purview to facilitate teamwork and knowledge sharing. Define access controls to ensure that sensitive data is only accessible to authorized users.
7. Automation and Scheduled Scans
Set up automated scans and data catalog updates to ensure that your data assets are continuously monitored and cataloged.
8. Performance Monitoring and Optimization
Monitor the performance of Purview and optimize its configuration to ensure efficient data discovery and cataloging processes.
Getting Started with Microsoft Purview
With prior experience in leveraging Microsoft Fabric for many prestigious projects, and with guidance from our in-house Microsoft MVP, the team at Kanerika can efficiently implement Microsoft Purview. Here are some crucial steps in getting started with the Microsoft Purview:
Prepare and Plan in Advance
Before you start implementing Microsoft Purview, you have to prepare and plan accordingly. This stage involves identifying your data governance requirements, defining your data governance policies, and determining the scope of your data governance program.
Set Up Your Infrastructure
Before getting started with Purview, make sure that your infrastructure is all set. Verify your network, storage, and compute resources that are sufficient to support the solution. Ensure that your security and compliance policies are aligned with Microsoft Purview’s requirements.
Get a User Subscription and License
To use Microsoft Purview, a valid subscription, and license are mandatory. Depending on your data governance requirements, you can choose either the free version or the paid version which has more advanced features.
Subscribe to Kanerika’s Newsletter
Access the Purview Portal
To access the Microsoft Purview portal, sign in to your Microsoft account using your credentials. After you sign in, you’ll be able to access the portal and start using the various data governance solutions provided by Microsoft Purview.
Connect the Data Sources
Connecting your data sources to the solution is essential to use Microsoft Purview. This involves configuring the necessary connectors and APIs to enable data discovery, classification, and tagging. Microsoft Purview supports a wide range of data sources, including Azure storage services, Power BI, SQL databases, and more.
Train Your Team
Make sure that your organization utilizes Microsoft Purview efficiently by giving the users all the necessary training they need. Educate them on the various data governance solutions provided by Microsoft Purview and encourage them to adopt best practices for data governance.
Also read: Exploring Data Governance in Banking: A Key to Success
Kanerika: Your Ideal Choice for Efficient Implementation of Microsoft Purview
Rely on Kanerika to take your data governance standards to new heights. Our innovative data solutions empower organizations to achieve excellence in data management. From meticulous data handling to stringent compliance measures, our data experts can tailor effective solutions that best suit your unique business needs.
We are an ISO 27001 certified technology consulting firm that leverages advanced technologies and industry-leading expertise to optimize data quality, security, and regulatory adherence. With Kanerika as your trusted partner, you can not only unleash the full potential of your data assets but also mitigate risks and drive sustainable growth.
Having successfully implemented many Microsoft Fabric solutions previously, Kanerika has earned a reputation for being the clients’ #1 choice when it comes to leveraging the most advanced and complex technologies. With a Microsoft MVP (Most valuable Professional) on board, and a team of seasoned data analytics experts, we assure efficient implementation of Microsoft Purview solutions.
Contact our Microsoft Experts!
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Microsoft Purview for?
Microsoft Purview is your data's control center. It helps you discover, manage, and protect all your data, regardless of where it lives - in the cloud, on-premises, or even in various data sources. Think of it as a comprehensive data governance platform that gives you a unified view of your data landscape, empowering you to make informed decisions and ensure data security and compliance.
What did Microsoft Purview replace?
Microsoft Purview replaced a collection of existing data governance and compliance solutions within Microsoft, including Azure Data Catalog, Data Catalog for SQL Server, and Data Loss Prevention. It combines these capabilities into a single platform for discovering, classifying, managing, and protecting your data across your entire organization, simplifying data governance efforts and providing a unified view of your data landscape.
Is Microsoft Purview a DLP?
Microsoft Purview is not a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) solution in the traditional sense. While it offers some data discovery and classification capabilities, its primary focus is on governing and managing data across your organization. Think of Purview as a data inventory and governance platform that can help you understand, control, and protect your data, including implementing DLP policies as part of a broader data security strategy.
What is the difference between Microsoft Purview and Azure Purview?
Microsoft Purview and Azure Purview are closely related, but serve different purposes. Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data governance solution encompassing data discovery, classification, and compliance across various platforms. Azure Purview focuses specifically on data cataloging and metadata management, providing a central repository for understanding and managing data within your Azure ecosystem.
Who uses Azure Purview?
Azure Purview is used by organizations seeking a comprehensive data governance solution. It helps data engineers, data scientists, and business analysts discover, understand, and manage their data across various sources. This allows them to improve data quality, enhance security, and drive data-driven decisions, ultimately contributing to increased data literacy and value within the organization.
Is Microsoft purview a SaaS or Paas?
Microsoft Purview is a cloud-based data governance and compliance platform. While it leverages Azure infrastructure, it's primarily a SaaS (Software as a Service) offering. You access it through a web interface and don't manage the underlying infrastructure, making it a user-friendly solution for managing data across your organization.
Is MS Purview free?
No, Microsoft Purview is not a free service. It's a paid solution with different pricing tiers based on the features you need. You can explore the pricing options on the Microsoft website or contact a Microsoft representative to discuss your specific needs and budget.
What is the old name of Microsoft Purview?
Microsoft Purview, formerly known as Azure Purview, is a data governance and compliance platform that helps organizations discover, manage, and protect their data across various sources. The name change from Azure Purview to Microsoft Purview reflects its broader applicability across the Microsoft ecosystem.
What is the use case of MS Purview?
Microsoft Purview acts as a central "data map" for your organization. It helps you discover, understand, and manage all your data, regardless of where it lives (cloud, on-premises, or hybrid). This allows you to improve data governance, security, and compliance by providing a single source of truth for your data assets.
What is similar to Microsoft Purview?
Microsoft Purview is a data governance and compliance solution. Similar tools offer comparable features, focusing on data discovery, classification, and protection. Examples include Collibra Data Governance, Alation Data Catalog, and Informatica PowerCenter. These solutions help organizations manage their data effectively, ensure compliance, and derive greater value from their information assets.
What are the two types of classification in Microsoft purview?
Microsoft Purview offers two main classification types: automatic and manual. Automatic classification uses AI to analyze your data and apply labels based on predefined patterns, like credit card numbers or sensitive words. Manual classification, on the other hand, allows you to manually assign labels to specific data based on your organization's specific policies and needs. This combination lets you achieve a balance between automation and human control for effective data governance.
What are the disadvantages of Microsoft Purview?
While Microsoft Purview offers powerful data governance and compliance features, it can be complex to set up and maintain. Its reliance on Azure can result in higher costs compared to other data governance solutions. Additionally, its integration with other Microsoft products might not be ideal for users relying heavily on third-party tools.
