Microsoft Purview is a cloud-based platform providing businesses with a centralized solution for data governance, data protection, compliance, and risk management. It is seamlessly integrated with the Microsoft 365 and Azure ecosystem, supporting organizations in efficiently managing sensitive data and meeting regulatory requirements.
Key Features
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Data Catalog & Governance: With Purview Data Map and Data Catalog, company data sources are automatically discovered, classified, and catalogued. This gives stakeholders full transparency over data lineage, structure, and usage.
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Classification & Sensitivity Labels: Purview automatically identifies and classifies sensitive information (such as personal data, credit card details). Sensitive data is tagged with labels that can trigger actions like encryption or access restrictions.
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Data Loss Prevention (DLP): DLP policies help prevent the unintended leakage of confidential data—for example, via email, OneDrive, or Teams.
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Compliance & Risk Management: Using the Purview Compliance Manager, organizations can continuously assess adherence to standards such as GDPR or ISO 27001. Features like auditing and eDiscovery make regulatory reporting and verification easier.
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Integration with Security Strategy: Microsoft Purview closely works with other Microsoft services like Sentinel and Defender to deliver comprehensive security and governance concepts.
Benefits
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Central platform for all data governance and compliance needs.
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Deep integration with Microsoft 365, Azure, Defender, & Sentinel.
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Automatic classification and protection of sensitive data.
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Cloud-native, scalable, and does not require on-premises infrastructure.
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Full auditability and traceability of user actions.
Challenges
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Complexity during planning and implementation (especially in large organizations).
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Features mainly focused around Microsoft environments.
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Licensing costs vary depending on feature modules and usage.
Conclusion
Microsoft Purview offers organizations a powerful and future-proof suite for managing sensitive data efficiently and securely. Particularly for companies already using Microsoft 365 or Azure services, Purview is a key tool for protecting, controlling, and auditing their data.
