Data is the lifeblood of any modern business, but it also poses many challenges. How do you know what data you have, where it is, who can access it, and how it is used? How do you ensure that your data is compliant with regulations and policies, and that it is protected from unauthorized or malicious use? How do you leverage your data to gain insights and drive innovation?

These are the questions that data governance aims to answer. Data governance is the process of defining and implementing policies, standards, and processes to ensure the quality, security, and availability of data across an organization. Data governance helps you to manage your data as a strategic asset, and to maximize its value and potential.

However, data governance is not an easy task. It requires a lot of coordination, collaboration, and visibility across different teams, systems, and sources. It also requires a lot of tools and technologies to support the various aspects of data governance, such as data cataloging, data lineage, data quality, data security, and data discovery.

That's where Microsoft Purview comes in. Microsoft Purview is a new cloud service that provides a comprehensive solution for data governance. It enables you to create a unified map of your data landscape, and to apply policies and controls to your data assets. It also helps you to discover and analyze your data, and to share it with the right people and applications.

What is Microsoft Purview?

Microsoft Purview is a cloud-based data governance service that helps you to manage, secure, and discover your data assets. It is part of the Azure Data Services platform, and it integrates with other Microsoft products and services, such as Azure Synapse Analytics, Azure Data Factory, Azure Databricks, Power BI, and Microsoft 365.

Microsoft Purview has three main components:

• Purview Data Map: This is the core of the service, where you can create a holistic view of your data landscape. Purview Data Map automatically scans and catalogs your data sources, both on-premises and in the cloud, and extracts metadata, such as data type, schema, lineage, sensitivity, and classification. Purview Data Map also allows you to define and apply business glossary terms, data domains, and data classifications to your data assets, and to assign roles and permissions to data consumers and stewards.
  
  
• Purview Data Insights: This is where you can explore and analyze your data assets, and gain insights into their quality, usage, and impact. Purview Data Insights provides interactive dashboards and reports that show you the distribution, lineage, relationships, and trends of your data. You can also use Purview Data Insights to perform data quality checks, data profiling, and data impact analysis.
  
  
• Purview Data Catalog: This is where you can discover and access your data assets, and share them with others. Purview Data Catalog provides a searchable and browsable interface that lets you find the data you need, based on metadata, business terms, classifications, and ratings. You can also use Purview Data Catalog to request access to data, and to export data to other tools and applications, such as Power BI, Azure Synapse Analytics, or Azure Databricks.

Why do you need Microsoft Purview?

Microsoft Purview is a game-changer for data governance, because it provides a comprehensive, unified, and scalable solution that can handle the complexity and diversity of your data landscape. With Microsoft Purview, you can:

• Gain visibility and control over your data assets, regardless of where they are stored or how they are used.
• Reduce the risk of data breaches, compliance violations, and data quality issues, by applying consistent policies and controls to your data.
• Improve the efficiency and productivity of your data teams, by automating and simplifying the tasks of data cataloging, data lineage, data quality, and data discovery.
• Enhance the collaboration and trust among your data stakeholders, by providing a common language and a single source of truth for your data.
• Unlock the value and potential of your data, by enabling data-driven insights and innovation.

Conclusion

Data governance is a critical and challenging task for any business that wants to succeed in the digital age. Microsoft Purview is a cloud service that can help you to overcome the challenges and reap the benefits of data governance. It can help you to manage, secure, and discover your data assets, and to create a data culture that fosters growth and innovation.

If you want to learn more about Microsoft Purview, and how it can help you to transform your data governance, you can visit our website, or contact us for a free consultation.