What is Microsoft Purview? A Guide to Unified Data Governance 

Originally launched as Azure Purview in 2021, Microsoft Purview has since evolved into a unified platform that simplifies data governance across on-premises, multi-cloud, and SaaS environments. Purview was designed to help organisations manage and protect data at scale, bringing together key governance tools into a single solution.

At its core, Microsoft Purview enables organisations to classify, catalogue, and monitor data across their estate. It brings together capabilities across data governance, data security, and risk and compliance, all under a single umbrella. This blog focuses specifically on the data governance aspect of Purview, which helps organisations understand, organise, and trust their data across on-premises, multi-cloud, and SaaS environments. Microsoft Purview implementation services could be a stepping stone for any robust data governance solution.

Why Data Governance Matters

Without proper structure, ownership, and visibility, data can quickly become more of a liability than an asset. Many organisations today are grappling with fragmented data landscapes, legacy systems, inconsistent terminology, and duplicated or undocumented data sources. In this environment, making sense of data becomes time-consuming, risky, and inefficient. 

Data governance provides the foundation for: 

• Breaking down data silos: It allows different departments and teams to work with a unified understanding of available data, reducing duplication and fostering collaboration. 

• Ensuring regulatory compliance: With increasing data privacy regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and others, governance helps organisations demonstrate accountability and reduce risk. 

• Improving discoverability, quality, and usability of data: A well-governed data estate means users can find the right data faster, understand its context, and trust that it is accurate and fit for purpose. 

• Enabling confident, secure, data-driven decision-making: When data is properly catalogued, classified, and governed, leaders can make strategic decisions backed by reliable insights. 

Microsoft Purview’s governance tools are designed to help organisations move from reactive data management to proactive, scalable governance that empowers data users across the business. By enabling visibility, control, and trust in your data, it becomes a true strategic asset rather than an operational burden. 

Key Features of Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview helps organisations take control of their data by simplifying discovery, classification, and governance. Its core features support transparency, compliance, and better data-driven decision-making. Here are some of the stand out features of Microsoft Purview:

1. Unified Data Map
Microsoft Purview automatically scans your data estate and creates a centralised map of your assets. This visibility lays the groundwork for more effective governance and risk management.

2. Data Classification and Sensitivity Labelling
Using built-in and custom classification rules, Purview can identify and label sensitive data such as personally identifiable information (PII), financial records, or health data. This supports responsible data handling and ensures consistent policies across departments.

3. End-to-End Lineage Tracking
Lineage features allow you to trace the flow of data from source to consumption. This is essential for auditing, impact assessment, and maintaining trust in your reporting and analytics outputs.

4. Role-Based Access and Policy Management
Microsoft Purview supports role-based access control and integrates with Microsoft Entra ID to enforce data access policies at scale. These capabilities help organisations meet compliance requirements without hindering productivity.

5. Native Microsoft Ecosystem Integration
As part of the broader Microsoft ecosystem, Purview integrates seamlessly with Power BI, Azure Synapse, and Microsoft Fabric. For organisations implementing these technologies, working with a Microsoft Purview consultant ensures that governance is aligned from the start.

Who Needs Microsoft Purview Implementation?

Microsoft Purview is designed for organisations that need visibility, control, and trust in their data. Purview becomes especially valuable in complex, highly regulated, or data-rich environments.

Large enterprises, public sector bodies, government institutions and industries like finance, higher education and healthcare often operate across multiple data systems and face growing compliance demands. For these organisations, Microsoft Purview implementation services offer a way to centralise data oversight, streamline governance, and ensure regulatory alignment.

It’s also highly relevant for data leaders, from Chief Data Officers to IT managers who are seeking to build a modern data estate. With tools like Purview data catalogue, data leaders can empower business users to easily find and understand the data they need, all while maintaining enterprise-grade governance. Organisations working with data governance consulting partners will also benefit, as Purview forms a strategic foundation for implementing long-term data management frameworks, from classification to lifecycle policies.

Ultimately, Purview is for any organisation that’s ready to stop reacting to data challenges and start building proactive, secure, and scalable governance.

Real-World Use Cases

Microsoft Purview implementation cases in some of UK’s most important sectors could be:

• A healthcare provider can scan and classify patient records, tag them with business terms like “clinical trial” or “diagnosis code,” and restrict access to research-approved staff only.
• A financial services firm can use Microsoft Purview implementation services to track the flow of trading data from ingestion to Power BI reports, applying sensitivity labels and quality checks throughout.
• A university can use domain-based governance to allow different departments (e.g. admissions, research) to manage and document their data independently.
  

Conclusion

As organisations face growing complexity in their data environments, establishing strong, scalable governance has never been more critical. Microsoft Purview offers a unified approach to data governance, bringing together discovery, classification, access control, and policy management in one platform. Through Microsoft Purview implementation, organisations can shift from fragmented, reactive data practices to a more structured, proactive approach that supports compliance, improves data quality, and enables more confident decision-making.

How can Simpson Associates Help You?

Are you looking to leverage Microsoft Purview’s data governance solutions but don’t know where to start? As Microsoft Solutions Partner and a Microsoft Partner of the year award winner, Simpson Associates are perfectly placed to help you unlock the complete potential of Microsoft Purview.

The Simpson Associates Purview Accelerator is the perfect offering to get you started. The Accelerator provides you with a fully managed platform on which you can achieve unified data governance. This data governance solution will enable you to scan and classify data from on-premises and multi-cloud data sources, delivering trusted and accurate data to your data consumers. 

Whether your organisation is looking to unlock greater unlock greater value and insights from their data or wanting to evaluate their technology, our Purview accelerator can help you. Get in touch for the best Purview and data governance consulting services now via our live chat or email.