Introduction
Organizations generate and manage large volumes of data across various environments, including on-premises, cloud, and hybrid IT infrastructure designs. Ensuring proper data security, governance, and compliance while maximizing the value of these data assets poses a significant challenge. Microsoft Purview provides a comprehensive solution that helps businesses effectively discover, classify, and manage data assets.
What is Microsoft Purview?
Purview represents a rebranding and expansion of Azure Purview and is now incorporating compliance and risk management features from the Microsoft 365 Compliance Center to provide a unified data governance platform.
In other words, Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance solutions platform designed to give organizations complete visibility and control over their data. The platform helps businesses automate data discovery, establish governance, manage compliance, and secure data across multiple platforms, including Microsoft 365 Apps, Azure, AWS, and on-premises environments.
Data Security Solutions
- Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention
- Microsoft Purview Information Protection
- Microsoft Purview Privileged Access Management
- Microsoft Purview Data Security Posture Management
- Microsoft Purview Information Barriers
- Microsoft Purview Insider Risk Management
Governance Solutions
- Microsoft Purview Data Map
- Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog
Compliance Solutions
- Microsoft Purview Data Lifecycle Management
- Microsoft Purview eDiscovery
- Microsoft Purview Audit
- Microsoft Purview Communication Compliance
- Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager
Key Features of Microsoft Purview
1. Data Visibility
- Automatically scans and catalogues data across multiple sources.
- Gain insights into how data is stored and used in the organization.
- It uses AI-powered classification to detect sensitive information such as Personally Identifiable Information (PII), Personal Health Information (PHI) and financial data.
2. Data Governance and Management
- Enables organizations to define and enforce governance policies.
- Helps in setting access controls, data retention policies, and lifecycle management.
- Offers a purview data map, which provides a dynamic, searchable inventory of data assets.
3. Risk and Compliance Management
- It helps businesses comply with regulatory requirements such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA.
- Includes automated compliance assessments, risk monitoring, and audit logs.
- Features Microsoft Purview Compliance Manager, which provides compliance scorecards and actionable insights.
4. Data Protection and Security
- Automatically apply sensitivity of the content using Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) and enforce sensitivity label policies.
- Control /Monitor the organization’s usage/data sharing internally or externally using Microsoft Data Loss Prevention (DLP) Cloud / Endpoint.
- Offers role-based access control (RBAC) to ensure only authorized users can access sensitive data.
- Supports integration with Microsoft Defender for Cloud to detect and mitigate security threats.
5. Data Sharing and Collaboration
- Facilitates secure data sharing and colloboration within and outside the organization.
- Supports Microsoft Teams and other collaboration tools while maintaining compliance.
- Uses MIP and DLP to enable controlled data exchange.
Benefits of Microsoft Purview
Unified Data Governance
- Provides a centralized platform to manage data assets across on-premise, cloud and hybrid environments.
- Reduces data silos and improves accessibility and controls to secure the data.
Enhanced Security and Compliance
- Strengthens data security by identifying risks and enforcing protection policies.
- Simplifies regulatory compliance with automated tools and frameworks.
Improved Operational Efficiency
- Reduces manual efforts in data discovery and classification through automation.
- Enhances collaboration with self-service access to governed data.
Scalability and Flexibility
- Adapts to growing business needs with seamless integration into Microsoft’s ecosystem.
- Supports hybrid and multi-cloud environments, allowing governance across different platforms.
Why Businesses Should Consider Microsoft’s Purview
Microsoft Purview can significantly benefit organizations facing challenges such as scattered unstructured data, compliance issues, or security risks. The tool offers a comprehensive framework for efficiently managing, governing, and protecting data assets, helping organizations maintain compliance while fostering innovation.
Adopting Purview facilitates seamless integration and enhances enterprise data governance capabilities using Office 365 / M365, Azure, or hybrid environments without additional third-party solutions.
Conclusion
Microsoft Purview is crucial for organizations developing a structured and secure data governance strategy. It addresses key aspects such as regulatory compliance, data protection, and effective data management, providing a comprehensive approach to ensure businesses remain competitive.
With the wide range of features, automation capabilities, and seamless integration within the Microsoft ecosystem, Microsoft Purview is a valuable asset for organizations looking to leverage their data while ensuring security and compliance.
