Microsoft Purview is a data governance solution developed by Microsoft that aims to help organizations discover, understand, and manage their data assets.
Why do businesses need Microsoft Purview?

Centralized data catalog
Purview acts as a single source of truth, bringing together data from various sources, both on-premises and in the cloud.

Automated data discovery
Purview scans and extracts metadata from data sources, providing a comprehensive view of the data landscape.

Data classification
Purview uses AI to automatically classify data based on predefined or custom policies, ensuring compliance and data governance.

Data lineage tracking
Purview enables tracking the origin, transformation, and movement of data, ensuring data quality and providing insights into data dependencies.

Integration with Microsoft services
Purview seamlessly integrates with other Microsoft data services like Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics.

Power BI integration
Users can explore and visualize data assets directly in Power BI, promoting self-service analytics and reporting.

Collaboration and governance
Purview supports annotation, business glossary terms, and data policy management, enabling better collaboration and standardization.

Privacy and compliance
It helps identify sensitive data and ensures compliance with privacy regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.

Data-driven decision-making
With Purview, businesses can leverage their data assets effectively, making informed decisions with confidence.
Microsoft Purview helps you discover, understand, and manage data assets with a comprehensive data governance solution.
At its core, Microsoft Purview acts as a centralized data catalog that brings together information from various sources, both within and outside the organization. It enables users to create a holistic view of their data landscape by connecting to a wide range of data sources, including on-premises databases, cloud storage, software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications, and more. By integrating with other Microsoft data services like Azure Data Factory and Azure Synapse Analytics, Purview enables seamless data ingestion and processing workflows.
One of the key features of Microsoft Purview is data discovery. It employs automated scanning techniques to crawl through data sources and extract metadata, which is then stored in the catalog. This metadata includes information such as data types, column names, descriptions, and data lineage. The catalog serves as a single source of truth for data assets, allowing users to search, explore, and understand the available data resources.
Data classification is another crucial aspect of Microsoft Purview. It leverages advanced AI capabilities to automatically classify data based on predefined or custom policies. This classification helps organizations identify sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII) or financial data, ensuring compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. With Purview, businesses can apply consistent data classification across their entire data estate, promoting data governance and reducing the risk of data breaches.
Data lineage is a vital feature provided by Microsoft Purview. It tracks the origin, transformation, and movement of data throughout its lifecycle. This helps users understand the lineage of a specific data asset, providing insights into data sources, transformations, and dependencies. With data lineage, organizations can ensure data quality, trace the impact of changes, and establish trust in their data assets.
Fortify data security to protect your most sensitive data

Microsoft Purview is a powerful data governance solution that helps organizations discover, understand, and manage their data assets. By providing a centralized data catalog, automated data discovery, classification, and lineage tracking, Purview enables businesses to harness the value of their data, ensure data privacy and compliance, and make data-driven decisions with confidence.
Want to find out more read our blog about how to 'Fortify data security to protect your most sensitive data'.
Want to find out more about Microsoft Purview?
Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data governance solution that enables organizations to discover, understand, and manage their data assets across the enterprise, offering tools for data discovery, classification, lineage tracking, and integration with Microsoft services, ultimately empowering businesses to leverage their data effectively and make informed decisions.