Microsoft Purview on Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data governance and compliance platform covering two main areas: Data Governance (formerly Azure Purview) for data discovery, cataloging, and classification, as well as Risk and Compliance (formerly Microsoft 365 Compliance) for Information Protection, DLP, and compliance management.
The platform automatically scans data sources across multi-cloud and on-premises environments, creates data maps, classifies sensitive data, and enables data lineage tracking. Compliance functions include Data Loss Prevention, Insider Risk Management, and eDiscovery.
Microsoft Purview is available in all Azure regions and meets highest compliance standards (ISO 27001, SOC 2, GDPR, HIPAA).
Typical Use Cases
Data discovery and cataloging: Automatic discovery and cataloging of data assets across Azure, AWS, on-premises SQL, S3, Power BI, and more for central data transparency.
Protect sensitive data: Automatic classification of sensitive data (PII, financial, health data) and application of protection policies (encryption, DLP) across Microsoft 365, Azure, and third-party apps.
GDPR compliance: Process Data Subject Requests (DSRs) by identifying personal data across all systems and automating deletion or disclosure workflows.
Insider risk management: Monitoring suspicious activities (data exfiltration, abnormal access patterns) through AI-powered risk detection and automated compliance workflows.
Frequently Asked Questions about Microsoft Purview
What is the difference between Purview Data Governance and Risk/Compliance?
Purview Data Governance focuses on data cataloging, lineage, and classification across data sources. Purview Risk and Compliance concentrates on Information Protection, DLP, Insider Risk, and eDiscovery primarily in Microsoft 365 and Azure.
Which data sources are supported?
Over 200 data sources: Azure (Storage, SQL, Synapse, Data Lake), AWS (S3, RDS), on-premises (SQL Server, Oracle, SAP), SaaS (Salesforce, ServiceNow), Power BI, Databricks, and many more.
How does automatic classification work?
Purview uses predefined classifiers (Sensitive Information Types like credit cards, SSN, IBAN) and Trainable Classifiers (ML-based for unstructured data). Custom classifiers can be created.
Can Purview also manage multi-cloud environments?
Yes, Purview Data Map scans and catalogs data across Azure, AWS, Google Cloud, and on-premises systems. Unified Data Governance across all cloud environments.
How is Microsoft Purview billed?
Data Governance: By Capacity Units (vCore hours) for scans and storage for Data Map. Risk and Compliance: Per user/month depending on features (E3, E5 licenses). Detailed prices vary by components.
Does Purview support data lineage?
Yes, Purview automatically creates data lineage graphs showing how data flows from sources through transformations (ETL, Databricks, Synapse) to dashboards/reports. Supports Impact Analysis.
Can Purview integrate with existing DLP solutions?
Purview offers native DLP for Microsoft 365, Teams, Exchange, SharePoint. For third-party DLP, integration via APIs is possible. Purview can serve as central policy engine.
Alternatives
alternatives:
- provider: “aws” product: “data-zone”
- provider: “gcp” product: “dataplex”
Integration with innFactory
As a Microsoft Solutions Partner, innFactory supports you in implementing Microsoft Purview for data governance and compliance. We help with data cataloging, classification strategies, GDPR compliance, and integration into existing systems.
Contact us for a non-binding consultation on Microsoft Purview.
