TLDR:Microsoft Purview helps SMBs with data governance, security, and compliance. It offers features like Data Map, Unified Catalog, and Data Loss Prevention. SMBs can implement Purview in phases, starting with setting up governance domains and data products, then focusing on data discovery, quality, and ongoing management. There’s a free version to start with and an upgrade for full features.
Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive set of solutions designed to help organizations govern, protect, and manage their data. It offers integrated coverage to address data fragmentation, improve visibility, and leverage key features to streamline IT management. While it’s a robust platform for enterprises, SMBs can also leverage its key features to enhance their data management practices.
Understanding Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview helps organizations to achieve their data management goals by unifying data governance solutions across on-premises, multicloud, and SaaS environments. It provides organizations with the ability to.
- Gain data visibility and understand their data landscape.
- Safeguard sensitive data and manage data throughout its lifecycle, regardless of location.
- Govern data by implementing comprehensive data governance practices.
- Manage risks and compliance to address data-related risks and ensure regulatory compliance.

Microsoft Purview Components and SMB Benefits
- Microsoft Purview Data Map: Create a map of the data estate and identify sensitive data by registering and scanning data sources to gain insight into data location and content.
- Microsoft Purview Unified Catalog: Find valuable data securely. Curate data sources, manage data integrity, govern the data estate, secure sensitive data, and extract business value from existing data sources.
- Data Loss Prevention (DLP): Monitor for sensitive information and take action to block unauthorized activities to safeguard sensitive information within and outside the organization.
- Information Barriers (IB): Restrict communication and collaboration between specific groups and users in Microsoft Teams, SharePoint, and OneDrive to prevent conflicts of interest and protect internal information.
- Compliance Manager: Manage compliance requirements by identifying data protection risks, implementing controls, staying current with regulations, and reporting to auditors.
Initiation to Microsoft Purview

- Assign the Data Governance Admin role: This role permits administrators to grant application-level permissions, such as the creation of governance domains.
- Construct governance domains: Create boundaries for data governance. These domains enable data discovery and allow for the assignment of ownership. Governance domains can be based on corporate areas (e.g., HR, sales) or regulatory domains (e.g., SOX).
- Assign governance domain owners: These users are the point of contact for data utilized within their assigned governance domain.
- Register data sources: Register and scan data sources utilizing Microsoft Purview Data Map to capture metadata.
- Construct data products: Data product owners create data products by grouping data assets (tables, files, reports) and pairing them with real-world scenarios. These data products are then shared with data consumers.
Business Concepts, Data, and Data Quality
Data governance can be made effective by using components such as glossary terms, which provide a standardized business vocabulary, improving data accessibility and usability. Additionally, data can be aligned with business goals by defining Objectives and Key Results (OKRs), which establish goals and desired outcomes for governance domains. Data quality rules, which describe the state of data through dimensions like accuracy, completeness, and consistency, are also crucial. Furthermore, data profiling can be utilized to examine data and collect statistics for data quality assessment.
Weekly Planning

The Microsoft Purview Portal
Microsoft Purview offers SMBs a scalable solution for data governance, security, and compliance. Key features include Data Map, Unified Catalog, and Data Loss Prevention. SMBs can start with the free version and upgrade to the enterprise version for full functionality.
Source: Microsoft Learn Purview .