What is Microsoft Graph Data Connect?
Microsoft Graph Data Connect (MGDC) provides a secure, scalable way to copy selected Microsoft 365 datasets into Azure, such as Azure Data Lake, Microsoft Fabric, or Azure Synapse Analytics. Unlike the Graph API, which is designed for real-time queries of individual objects and subject to throttling, Data Connect is built for bulk extraction of large data volumes for analytics and machine learning.
Data is delivered through configurable pipelines (including Azure Data Factory) into Azure data stores, where you can build custom reports, train ML models, or integrate with business intelligence tools.
Core Features
- Bulk data extraction: Copy large volumes of Microsoft 365 data efficiently
- Broad dataset coverage: Access datasets from Microsoft Entra ID, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint/OneDrive, and Viva Insights
- Privacy controls: Pseudonymization, hashing of identifiers, and column filtering reduce exposure of personal data
- Admin approval: IT controls which apps can access which datasets
- Azure integration: Connects to Data Factory, Microsoft Fabric, and Synapse Analytics
Typical Use Cases
Organizations use Data Connect for workplace analytics, customer relationship analytics, and business process analytics. Typical scenarios include analyzing collaboration patterns, identifying workflow bottlenecks, and training custom AI models on organizational data beyond what out-of-the-box Microsoft 365 tools provide.
Benefits
- Access to enterprise data at scale without Graph API throttling limits
- Privacy-by-design with built-in data protection controls
- Scalable downstream processing with Azure analytics services
- Unified, admin-controlled data flow from Microsoft 365 into Azure
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Microsoft Graph Data Connect?
Microsoft Graph Data Connect (MGDC) is a service for securely copying selected Microsoft 365 datasets into Azure data stores such as Azure Data Lake, Microsoft Fabric, or Azure Synapse Analytics. It is built for bulk extraction of large datasets rather than single-item queries.
What data can I extract?
Available datasets include Microsoft Entra ID, Outlook, Teams, SharePoint/OneDrive, and Viva Insights, among others. Microsoft continues to expand dataset coverage; check the official documentation for the current list.
What does Microsoft Graph Data Connect cost?
Usage is billed pay-as-you-go per 1,000 objects extracted, with tiered volume discounts at higher usage levels. Additional costs apply for connected Azure services such as Storage, Data Factory, or Synapse. Current prices are listed on the official pricing page.
How is privacy handled?
Data extraction requires explicit admin approval within the Microsoft 365 tenant. Features such as pseudonymization, hashing of identifiers, and column filtering reduce exposure of personal data, and audit logs track all access.
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory helps you implement Graph Data Connect: use case design, extraction pipeline setup, privacy configuration, and integration with analytics and ML platforms.
Typical Use Cases
Note: All product information on this page has been compiled with care, but is provided without guarantee and may be outdated or incomplete. Cloud services evolve rapidly — features, pricing, SLAs, and availability change frequently. Authoritative and up-to-date information can only be found on the official product page of Azure (official documentation). This page does not represent an offer by Azure.
