Why Data Governance Matters (And How Microsoft Purview Is Evolving in 2025) 

Data is the new oil, or so the saying goes. But just like oil, data only becomes valuable when it’s properly managed, refined, and secured. In an age of increasing regulation, skyrocketing data volume, and AI-powered everything, businesses that fail to govern their data are flying blind. 

Microsoft Purview provides a unified data governance and compliance platform designed to bring clarity and control to your digital estate. In 2025, it’s no longer just about managing risk, data governance is a business imperative, and Microsoft Purview is evolving to meet that challenge head-on. 

What Is Microsoft Purview? 

Microsoft Purview is an integrated solution for data governance, compliance, risk, and privacy management. Originally launched as Azure Purview, the platform has since expanded to include a wide array of features that help organizations: 

• Discover and classify data across hybrid environments 
• Govern sensitive information with policies and labels 
• Monitor insider risks and data loss 
• Comply with regulations like GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA 

Think of it as the cockpit for your data security and compliance operations, offering visibility, automation, and centralized control. 

What Is Data Governance, and Why Does It Matter? 

Data governance is the practice of managing data availability, usability, integrity, and security across an organization. It ensures that data is trustworthy, well-documented, and used responsibly. 

Without governance, organizations face: 

• Compliance risks (think million-dollar fines from regulators) 
• Operational inefficiencies (duplicate records, poor analytics) 
• Security vulnerabilities (untracked sensitive data leaking out) 
• Reputational damage (just ask any company that’s suffered a breach) 

According to Gartner, by 2026, 20% of organizations will have formal data governance programs that are business-centric and ROI-driven, up from less than 10% in 2021. 

How Microsoft Purview Works 

Microsoft Purview brings together multiple data governance, compliance, and risk management tools under one unified platform. It functions by discovering, classifying, labeling, monitoring, and protecting data across your entire digital estate—whether that’s on-premises, in Microsoft 365, in Azure, or in other public clouds. 

Here’s a breakdown of how Purview works: 

1. Data Discovery and Mapping 

Purview scans your connected data sources and builds a data map, showing where data lives and how it flows. It supports a wide range of sources, including: 

• Microsoft 365 (SharePoint, Exchange, OneDrive, Teams) 
• Azure Storage, SQL, Synapse 
• Amazon S3, Google Cloud, Snowflake 
• On-prem SQL Servers and file shares 

2. Classification and Labeling 

Once the data is discovered, Purview uses machine learning classifiers and built-in sensitive information types (like Social Security numbers, credit card data, and health information) to automatically tag data. 

Labels from Microsoft Information Protection (MIP) can then be applied to control: 

• Who can access the data 
• Whether it must be encrypted 
• How long it should be retained 
• Where it’s allowed to travel (inside or outside the organization) 

3. Policy Enforcement and Compliance Monitoring 

Through data loss prevention (DLP) policies, retention rules, and access controls, organizations can prevent data leaks, meet regulatory requirements, and enforce usage boundaries. 

Purview also integrates with: 

• Microsoft Entra (for identity-based access control) 
• Microsoft Defender (for real-time threat detection) 
• Insider Risk Management (to monitor risky behavior) 

4. Reporting, Audit, and Risk Insights 

Everything in Purview is auditable. The Compliance Manager dashboard provides real-time scoring, actionable insights, and reports for frameworks like GDPR, HIPAA, ISO 27001, and NIST. 

What Licensing Do You Need for Microsoft Purview? 

Microsoft Purview isn’t a single SKU, it’s a suite of capabilities, and licensing depends on the components you want to use. Here’s a simplified overview of how it breaks down: 

Microsoft Purview Data Map and Data Catalog 

• Included in: Azure Purview (now part of Microsoft Purview) 
• Licensed through: Azure consumption model (based on scans, data processed, and users) 
• Ideal for organizations needing discovery, classification, and lineage tracking across data lakes and warehouses. 

Information Protection & Data Loss Prevention 

• Included in: Microsoft 365 E5, or as an add-on to E3 
• Enables sensitivity labels, auto-labeling, DLP, encryption, and user-based protections across M365 apps. 

Insider Risk Management, eDiscovery, and Records Management 

• Included in: Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance or E5 Security 
• Available as add-ons to M365 E3 under the Microsoft Purview Compliance Suite branding. 

Microsoft Purview Risk & Compliance Solutions 

• These include Communication Compliance, Audit Premium, Customer Lockbox, and others. 
• Typically bundled with E5 or available individually as Microsoft Purview add-ons. 

Microsoft Security & Compliance Licensing Simplified 

Feature	M365 E3	M365 E5	Purview Add-on
Basic DLP	✅	✅	–
Auto Labeling & Encryption	❌	✅	✅
Insider Risk Management	❌	✅	✅
Advanced eDiscovery	❌	✅	✅
Audit (Standard)	✅	✅	–
Audit (Premium)	❌	✅	✅

Tip: Use Microsoft’s Pricing Calculator or consult a licensing partner to model the right setup based on your data footprint and compliance goals. 

Real-World Example: Good Governance with Purview 

A large healthcare provider in the U.S. used Microsoft Purview to classify and label over 3 million patient records stored across SharePoint, Teams, and Azure. Using automated classification and data lifecycle policies, they were able to comply with HIPAA requirements and reduce audit preparation time by 70%. 

By proactively governing access and retention policies, they not only avoided fines but also empowered clinicians with faster access to accurate data—boosting both care quality and operational efficiency. 

Real-World Example: Lack of Governance Gone Wrong 

In contrast, a global retailer made headlines in 2022 after unsecured AWS S3 buckets exposed over 100 million customer records. The root cause? No centralized governance over data creation, storage, or classification. The result: class-action lawsuits, brand erosion, and a long road to rebuild trust. 

This example reinforces what IBM found in its 2023 “Cost of a Data Breach” report: the average cost of a data breach is now $4.45 million, and even higher for companies lacking mature data governance and security frameworks. 

What’s New in Microsoft Purview in 2025? 

Microsoft continues to invest heavily in Purview, and 2025 has brought several game-changing enhancements: 

• AI-Powered Data Discovery: Copilot for Microsoft Purview helps users ask natural language questions like “Where is employee data stored across our environment?” and receive curated insights. 
• Cross-Cloud Scanning: Support has expanded beyond Microsoft platforms to include Google Cloud, AWS, and Snowflake, making Purview more viable for multi-cloud governance. 
• Granular Access Reviews: A new integration with Microsoft Entra allows data owners to periodically review and revoke data access based on real-time usage patterns. 
• Improved Data Lineage: Visualizations now show the full journey of data—from ingestion to transformation to consumption—crucial for compliance and impact analysis. 

These innovations reflect Microsoft’s vision of governance as a daily operational practice, not a reactive compliance checkbox. 

Closing Thought: From Risk Management to Strategic Advantage 

Data governance used to be about staying out of trouble. Today, it’s about staying ahead. 

Companies that embrace governance platforms like Microsoft Purview don’t just manage risk, they gain competitive advantage by increasing data quality, streamlining compliance, and making AI workloads safer and more reliable. 

As your data grows and your digital surface area expands, governance isn’t optional. It’s mission-critical.