Microsoft Fabric and Purview: The ultimate duo for advanced data governance

Undoubtedly, organizations are thrilled with the possibilities data brings them – greater efficiency, better decision-making, and competitive advantage. Data, however, is also overwhelming. With data pouring in from different sources and platforms, not to mention multi-cloud environments, managing and keeping track of it has become increasingly complex for organizations. This results in increased data silos, hence making data governance extremely difficult, increasing the risks of data breaches, unauthorized access, and regulatory non-compliance.

In fact, according to IBM’s report on Cost of data breach 2024, 40% of data breaches involved data stored across multiple environments. This data highlights that a lack of comprehensive data governance can significantly increase the risk of data breaches. Given these challenges, CIOs are increasingly recognizing the importance of data governance, with 93% reporting it as their top priority and 83% acknowledging the difficulties of managing data across multiple platforms.

We understand that the data and AI market is incredibly fragmented, with hundreds of vendors and thousands of services. Organizations often choose a mix of solutions from various providers, incurring significant costs and effort to ensure seamless and secure integration. In this complex environment, a robust data governance strategy becomes essential to manage these diverse data sources effectively and securely.

Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview, together, offer a comprehensive approach to data governance, providing organizations with Microsoft data governance tools and capabilities they need to manage their data effectively and mitigate risks.

This blog post explores the significance of data governance and analytics with Microsoft Fabric and Purview, exploring how this dual compatibility strengthens an organization’s data governance.

Read more: Why data governance is important for business’s lasting success?

An in-depth look at Microsoft Fabric for enhanced governance

Microsoft Fabric is a powerful, all-in-one data analytics platform that brings together the essential data and analytics tools an organization needs to unlock the true value of its data. By combining technologies such as Azure Data Factory, Azure Synapse Analytics, and Power BI into one platform, Fabric empowers data experts and business professionals to tap into their data’s potential and pave the way for AI-driven innovation.

However, one must understand that the importance of data goes beyond transformation and innovation – it’s also closely tied to governance. Modern data platforms bring various governance challenges that organizations need to tackle. As businesses increasingly rely on data for decision-making and innovation, the need for data to be more accessible, reliable, and secure has grown. Ensuring compliance with evolving regulations has also become more important than ever.

Besides this data deluge, organizations face another big challenge: the sheer size and complexity of the modern data landscape. With data coming from all directions—on-premises systems, various cloud platforms, and third-party integrations, businesses are struggling with data sprawl. This data spread leads to inconsistencies, redundancies, and fragmentation, making it difficult to maintain a reliable single source of truth.

Microsoft Fabric as a solution for governance concerns

Microsoft Fabric addresses modern data governance challenges by consolidating data and analytics into a single SaaS analytics platform. Its integration with Microsoft Purview, which focuses on security, compliance, and governance, further simplifies the process. This combination ensures organizations can manage their data with ease and confidence.

By using Microsoft Fabric and Purview, businesses gain valuable insights while ensuring data is well-governed and protected. With Microsoft Purview features for governance and compliance, organizations can incorporate Fabric into their comprehensive business strategies. Combining these platforms will help businesses stay ahead with valuable insights while ensuring their data is well-governed and protected, striking the right balance between understanding and protecting their data.

Quick read: What is SaaS backbone of Microsoft Fabric?

Exploring data governance and security features of Microsoft Fabric

At its core, Microsoft Fabric excels at creating a unified data environment helping businesses manage and protect sensitive data while making it easier to find and use it. Combining unified architecture with governance and security capabilities simplifies data governance and security across analytics workloads. These capabilities in Microsoft Fabric support maintaining customer trust and help businesses stay compliant with data regulations. Most of these capabilities come built-in with the Microsoft Fabric license, but some require access through Microsoft Purview licensing.

Let’s explore the main security and governance capabilities of Microsoft Fabric that will help you govern your organization’s data.

• Admin Portal

The admin portal brings all governance functions together, enabling organizations to manage settings and capacity efficiently.

• Data Catalog

Microsoft Purview Data Catalog facilitates the management and searchability of your data categorized by business domains throughout an organization’s comprehensive data landscape.

• Capacity Metrics app

The Microsoft Fabric Capacity Metrics app shows how resources are used, helping organizations decide when to scale up.

• Domains and Workspaces

Domains and workspaces in Microsoft Fabric extend Power BI controls, improving data access management. A universal security model ensures consistent permissions across all services.

• Metadata

Metadata scanning automates the process of gathering information about data, supporting custom analytics.

Microsoft Fabric strength lies in data analytics and infrastructure, while Microsoft Purview excels in governance capabilities. Therefore, integrating both helps optimize operations and enhance data security, strengthening and enhancing your organization’s data governance framework.

The following diagram gives a broad overview of governance and security features integrated into Microsoft Fabric and how they complement Microsoft Purview’s offering to give you full visibility and control over your data.  

What is Microsoft Purview? A brief overview

Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data governance solution that helps businesses manage, govern, and protect their data with advanced data governance, risk, and compliance solutions. Far from just a tool, Microsoft Purview is a strategic asset that integrates security, governance, and compliance into a cohesive framework. This empowers businesses to responsibly harness the full potential of their data.

With Microsoft Purview data governance, you can:

• Determine data risks and keep up with regulatory compliance needs.

• Start managing regulatory compliance easily.

• Protect sensitive data across different clouds, apps, and devices.

• Build a current map of your data landscape, including data classification and complete data flow.

• Locate where sensitive data is stored within your systems.

• Set up a secure space where users can access valuable data safely.

• Get insights into how your data is stored and utilized.

Microsoft Fabric + Microsoft Purview: The duo for advanced data governance and protection

Adopting Microsoft Purview isn’t just about using new technology, it’s about aligning with a forward-thinking approach to data management that ensures long-term business success. Microsoft Purview data governance helps turn data into a valuable asset rather than a risk, making it essential for modern, intelligent data governance. It represents a significant step toward effective, adaptable, and secure data management designed to meet future needs. The integration of Microsoft Purview with Microsoft Fabric helps organizations take advantage of:

Microsoft Purview Information Protection

This feature allows businesses to identify, classify, and protect Fabric data using Microsoft Purview Information Protection sensitivity labels. The information protection capabilities of Microsoft Purview allow users to:

• Understand your data landscape (know your data)

• Implement protection actions (protect your data)

• Detect risky behavior (prevent data loss)

• And, store data in a compliant manner (govern your data)

Watch the video to see Microsoft Purview Information Protection in action.

Sensitive Information Types (SITs) and Data Loss Prevention (DLP)

The first step in protecting your organization’s information protection guidelines is to identify and classify any sensitive information types you manage. With Microsoft Purview, you have three ways to handle this:

• Users can manually identify and classify items.

• Automated tools can recognize patterns, such as sensitive information types.

• Machine learning can help categorize data intelligently.

Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies are only available for Power BI semantic models. These policies detect the upload of sensitive data, such as credit card and social security numbers, into semantic models and trigger alerts. With Microsoft Purview, protecting sensitive data from being accidentally shared or leaked is simple—you just set up and apply Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies. These policies help you identify, monitor, and automatically safeguard sensitive information across various platforms, ensuring your data stays secure. These platforms include:

• Microsoft 365 services such as Teams, Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive accounts

• Office applications such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint

• Windows 10, Windows 11, and macOS (three latest released versions) endpoints

• Non-Microsoft cloud apps

• On-premises file shares and on-premises SharePoint

• Fabric and Power BI

Maximize your data value with Fabric and Purview

Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview work together to create a strong system for turning data from a potential liability into an invaluable asset. Their partnership helps make data more accessible and improves data management and governance. Moreover, this combination also allows business leaders to handle complex issues related to governance, compliance, and operations more easily and efficiently.

Want to learn more about managing your data governance with Microsoft Fabric and Microsoft Purview? Contact us at marketing@confiz.com to discover how we can help you implement these solutions effectively and achieve excellence in data governance.