DavidSmith15 - PeerSpot reviewer
Data Governance Manager at a comms service provider with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Top 20
We know, when we scan the data set, what we have within the database
Pros and Cons
  • "The cataloging tool is definitely the most valuable... It tells you about all the data you have in your tables, which helps people understand our data. We now know what data we have."
  • "Purview's data connector platform for non-Microsoft data sources is good, but there is some functionality that hasn't been developed yet. There are some servers that it can't connect to yet, because they're still in a trial process."

What is our primary use case?

We need to catalog and assign terminology to all of our data to find all the personal information that we have within our copy systems.

Over the last three years or so, we have been using Kafka and nesting queues a lot. We wanted to bring in an orchestration engine to integrate seamlessly with our nesting system. We had a lot of legacy applications that are not that old, and we did not want to rewrite software components that we own to get the benefits of orchestration. That's where there is a need. One of the factors that will decide if the use of Camunda will spread out to more use cases in our company is the ease of integration.

How has it helped my organization?

We weren't sure what our data was in certain areas. We created red Xs that basically indicated the kinds of codes and criteria we are looking for. Purview uses them to scan, and then it tells us what it has found and where that data may lie within our servers and databases. Now, people in our company have a good understanding, when they look at a database, of what data is in that database.

It has dramatically improved the visibility we have into our environment. That's the main concept of Purview, to show you what data you have. The solution has been magnificent due to the fact that now we know, when we scan the data set, what we have within the database.

One of the compliance criteria in the UK is to make sure you know where all your personal information is, and Purview gives us the ability to know that across our data estate. When we have meetings with compliance regulators it's great because we can demonstrate where our data is. There are no awkward questions because we can say, "This is where our data is." We know it's accurate and it's one version of the truth. Everyone understands that, which is fantastic.

As a result, it has definitely saved us time because when we have requirements meetings they try to establish where the data is. But with the cataloging ability of the tool, we know where all the data is. We don't need to spend five hours finding out where all the data is because we already know. We've already got a scan and it's already told us, and we have verified that. Now we can use that as a blueprint to go forward.

What is most valuable?

Purview gives us the ability to find out what data we hold, and in which tables, so we can understand and have one version of the truth in every database server system.

The cataloging tool is definitely the most valuable. To catalog data you can have Purview do a scan that you configure yourself. It goes through all of your data in the database server you're connected to and will say there is "date of birth" in this column and personal information in that column, and names in this other column. It tells you about all the data you have in your tables, which helps people understand our data. We now know what data we have.

It's also very important that the solution provides data protection across multi-cloud and multi-platform environments. Purview has links to all of our data so that we can make sure we have the right data protection involved.

Also, because it's very important to make sure that we have everything in place, and we only deal with companies that have all their compliance and rules in place, the fact Purview was built taking into account critical regulations from around the world is essential for our company, when it comes to scanning data.

What needs improvement?

Purview's data connector platform for non-Microsoft data sources is good, but there is some functionality that hasn't been developed yet. There are some servers that it can't connect to yet, because they're still in a trial process. However, there are obviously some non-MS sources it can support, which is good. Hopefully, for the ones it can't connect to, that will be rolled out soon.

There are other things that need to be developed in Purview. The data retention isn't great at the moment, and in that area we need certain functionality to be built. However, it's a very good tool and one I would champion.

Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Purview Data Governance
April 2024
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For how long have I used the solution?

I've been using Microsoft Purview for the last two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It hasn't gone wrong yet, so I can only give the stability a 10 out of 10. There have been no issues so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

There should be no issue rolling it out, going forward. It's already working on seven or eight systems at the moment. However, we expect it will be on a lot more.

How are customer service and support?

We have had a lot of contact with their technical support. Because we're at a very early stage with Purview, we need to make sure that we understand the functionality. They've been fantastic, mainly their support in America. They've been great. There have been no issues and it's very straightforward to understand what they're saying.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used IBM InfoSphere. That tool wasn't good enough for what we needed.

How was the initial setup?

The setup was pretty straightforward. We worked with our data engineer and it was sorted straight away. It was deployed very easily, in part because it's cloud-based. We had two or three people involved who work in data engineering, architecture, and data governance.

It's deployed across cloud and on-prem solutions. The maintenance is not heavy. It's very straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

It was all done in-house.

What was our ROI?

We have seen ROI massively. We now know where all our data is, so we don't need to worry about that. The amount of time that it would have taken to do that manually, without a tool like this, would have been huge. It was done automatically with the scan.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The pricing is absolutely excellent, fantastic. And the licensing is also fantastic. You pay for what you use, and the license isn't massive, unlike a lot of other licenses.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We used the review sites to look at all the other technology, and it came up that Purview was the most cost-effective tool to do what we wanted. It wasn't just the cost, but rather, the cost and the functionality. What we wanted was the right price. We found that other tools could do very similar things for a lot more money. While the cost of Purview is very good, the functionality is also very good.

What other advice do I have?

Make sure you have all the details of your endpoints in place because Purview needs to link to the endpoints. If you haven't got the endpoints in place, then you can't make the connection to the servers and to the databases. But if you have all those details in hand, it's very simple and straightforward.

Regardless of our use case, it's important that Purview helps protect iOS, Mac, Android, and data in other SaaS apps. But we use it to catalog our on-prem and our cloud so for us, it's not necessary that it covers iPhone or iOS or Mac. It's more of a system-architecture scanner.

And because it's a cataloging tool for us, we still need our existing systems in place. Purview is like a layer on top of that to find out where we have things and where we need things.

It's a cloud-based system, but it doesn't have any relation to Office or other Microsoft systems. It can link up to anything.

The only reason I'm not going to give it a 10 overall is that not all the functionality has been rolled out yet. Purview is very early on as a tool.

Overall, Purview is a fantastic tool for staying on top of compliance, knowing where your data is and what data you hold. In terms of data retention, you know what data is where and how long it's been there for. It really helps the business to understand that.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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CTO at a financial services firm with 10,001+ employees
Real User
Robust data cataloging and integration capabilities but it faces challenges related to integration issues, missing critical features and a timeframe for addressing key gaps
Pros and Cons
  • "The most significant value lies in its seamless integration into the Azure ecosystem, automating various processes and reducing operational burdens."
  • "Overcoming certain control issues would significantly enhance our overall satisfaction."

What is our primary use case?

As a financial institution, our objective is to replace our existing in-house project with a comprehensive solution for data cataloging, data provenance, scanning, drift detection, and overall data governance. We use Microsoft Purview to fulfill these requirements and enhance our data management capabilities.

How has it helped my organization?

We haven't witnessed the full impact yet, mainly because it took us a considerable amount of time to effectively integrate Microsoft Purview into our system. Additionally, there are critical features that are currently lacking, hindering the platform from realizing its complete value. However, we have confidence in the roadmap and the commitment of the development team.

What is most valuable?

The most significant value lies in its seamless integration into the Azure ecosystem, automating various processes and reducing operational burdens. The ability to consolidate metadata from diverse services and databases into a centralized repository is crucial. Moreover, the flexibility of exchanging data through APIs allows us to extend and build upon the platform to meet our specific needs. The openness to supporting customers across various environments and the potential of a comprehensive data strategy are key factors that keep us committed to Microsoft.

What needs improvement?

Overcoming certain control issues would significantly enhance our overall satisfaction. We encountered challenges in building a custom subscription, and certain essential Azure financial control functions, like customer-managed keys, were not implemented.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been working with it for approximately two years.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We have around ten thousand users, and the scale might not necessitate the same level of custom development as larger companies. Despite our size, there are instances where building and hosting certain systems, like a database, provides us with greater control over our data.

How are customer service and support?

I find it to be quite good. The enterprise culture and support we receive are appealing aspects. While our operational support may not match the industry leader, it surpasses what we've experienced with the third-ranked provider. I would rate it seven out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Regarding choosing Microsoft over competitors, our decision was heavily influenced by corporate alignment. We already had a significant business relationship with Microsoft, and there was strong alignment at the senior leadership level between our institution and Microsoft. Despite acknowledging that Microsoft is behind AWS in terms of service maturity, especially in areas like data databases, authentication, authorization, and management automation, we recognized the benefits of our existing alignment.

What was our ROI?

While it may take another year to reach the desired level of functionality, we believe in the platform's potential and anticipate improvements in its feature set.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

In the long run, using Purview may be more cost-effective than building and operating our own solution.

What other advice do I have?

I currently rate it a five out of ten, and I believe there's potential for it to reach a seven within the next year.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Buyer's Guide
Microsoft Purview Data Governance
April 2024
Learn what your peers think about Microsoft Purview Data Governance. Get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions. Updated: April 2024.
770,292 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Senior Consultant at a tech consulting company with 1-10 employees
Consultant
Top 20
Increased our visibility into our other Microsoft solutions and reduced the time it takes us to act on insider threats
Pros and Cons
  • "Microsoft Purview is extremely stable."
  • "The current event-based retention management is very poor."

What is our primary use case?

We use Microsoft Purview to protect and govern our information.

How has it helped my organization?

It is important for Microsoft Purview to provide data protection across multi-cloud and multi-platform environments, including AWS and GCP. I have been a consultant for a year and a half, advising mostly European enterprise customers. All customers, from mid-sized to larger, have diverse storage solutions. Therefore, it is important for Microsoft Purview to be flexible enough to be applied to various environments, such as multi-cloud. Although the product is not yet there, it is important to many business customers.

The enterprise IT landscape is diverse, with various devices, SaaS applications, and multi-cloud solutions. Protecting and governing information is a need that spans all of these touchpoints and Microsoft Purview helps us do that.

Purview's native integration with Azure Dynamics 365 and Office 365 is essential because many organizations use these Microsoft products. This native integration is unmatched by other solutions.

Purview DataOps Protection does a great job of remediating policy violations. It has a comprehensive reporting and fine-tuning integration that allows us to track policy violations effectively. Overall, I think it does a great job of protecting data.

Purview recently improved in the area of DLP. These tips are now available across different platforms, such as Office and Outlook, and they are getting better. This is helpful in educating users about policies. 

Microsoft Purview helped us control the growth of data, reduce dark data, and better protect against the filtration of data.

Purview increased our visibility into our other Microsoft solutions.

We use AI and automation sparingly. This is not part of Purview directly, but an AI tool that helps us determine if data is redundant or has business value before we move it to Azure or Microsoft 365. We use the AI tool in a very limited way, such as trainable classifiers. We also have the option to use another product called Syntex in collaboration with Purview, but this has not been explored much.

Technically Purview can enable us to show our compliance in real-time.

Purview reduced the time it takes us to act on insider threats by almost 90 percent. Previously, many violations were not reported or took months to be reported. Now, we can act on violations almost instantly, or within days.

Microsoft Purview partially helps organizations stay on top of compliance. The platform provides a number of technical features that can be used to manage compliance, but it is up to organizations to implement these features and take the necessary steps to ensure compliance.

What is most valuable?

Microsoft Information Protection uses sensitivity labels to classify and protect sensitive information. MIP works together with Data Loss Prevention to prevent sensitive information from being leaked outside of the organization. MIP also helps to mitigate insider risk by preventing unauthorized users from accessing sensitive information.

What needs improvement?

Purview's data connectivity platform has a good set of connectors for ingesting data from non-Microsoft data sources. However, it still falls short in terms of coverage of other systems. It is mostly integrated with the Microsoft stack, but there are connectors to other systems and sources of information. Overall, Purview is not a one-stop shop for protecting company information.

I am not sure that Purview was built with compliance guidelines in mind. It does have a component called Compliance Manager, which allows us to track our adherence to different standards, such as security and privacy standards around the globe. However, this is more of an add-on. I think there is still a significant gap between the technical capabilities of Purview and the ability to drive compliance or prove compliance through its use. I think this is a major gap that Microsoft does not adequately address. Purview is not a GRC tool. It is a set of security features, labeling features, and lifecycle features that do not come close to GRC tooling in terms of functionality. Additionally, there is no strong integration with the compliance framework, either in terms of rolling it out or proving our adherence to it.

I would like to see improvements to the compliance manager, such as making it easier to start small and grow over time. This is not possible at this time.

The current event-based retention management is very poor. This is an area that needs improvement. We need to be able to more natively or near natively label content for retention and sensitivity across other lines of business systems like Workday and ServiceNow. This would allow us to extend labeling to those applications and make it native. This would be of great benefit to our clients.

Purview's DLP protection has some downsides. One downside is that the tips only appear in native applications. This means that users will not see them in other applications, such as web browsers. Another downside is that the tips only cover a subset of all the information. This means that users may still need to seek out additional information elsewhere.

The technical support has room for improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Purview for a year and a half.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Microsoft Purview is extremely stable.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Microsoft Purview is highly scalable.

How are customer service and support?

The first level of support is not very knowledgeable and it is hard to get proper support because of the procedures in place.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment was complex, but not because of technical difficulties. The main challenge was engaging end users and getting them to adopt the new system. This was because the system required them to think about information in a new way. The deployment took around 12 months and required five to ten people working two days a week.

What about the implementation team?

The implementation was completed in-house.

What was our ROI?

The return on investment is very good for what Purview offers, but it does lack some of the features that other solutions have. For example, if we're replacing something that already exists, we could do something cheaper or quicker. However, the value of this solution is in its ability to mitigate risk. If we don't have any type of classification and security in place, we're always opening ourselves up to risks. The cost of this solution is high, but the cost of not having it could be much higher. The return on investment is around 200 percent.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Some people find the tier licensing system complicated, but it offers a lot of value for money if we use the features. In fact, many clients who use the E5 licenses find that they can get a better return on investment on those licenses. Once they do, they find that the tier licensing system is very fairly priced.

What other advice do I have?

I give Microsoft Purview an eight out of ten.

Time to value is quite long, especially when it impacts end users and requires new skills and knowledge. This is especially true in IT departments and on the business side. However, once the value is realized, the return on investment can be very good.

This type of solution is deployed across the entire Microsoft 365 tenant. It also has an Azure side, which is two things across that tenant as well. There is no area where it is used more or less. However, there is more interest in the areas of security and privacy. Therefore, legal, HR and IT are the most likely places to deploy this solution. Finance and merger and acquisition are also areas where people have more interest in deploying Purview. However, it is normally deployed across the entire organization.

We have around 30 clients consisting of anywhere between 20,000 and 50,000 users.

The maintenance is overseen by a full-time compliance technical person and a compliance business person.

I would advise assessing the maturity of the people and processes before using these types of tools. The technical side of things is not too complicated but we need to have the people and processes in place to classify all of our information and to ensure that our policies are being triggered. This can be a challenge for many organizations, as most have dark data, especially on structured clients. Ultimately, it is the people and the processes that make the success of these tools, not the technology itself.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor. The reviewer's company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
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Mark Livingston - PeerSpot reviewer
Solutions Architect at a tech vendor with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Helps us save time and meet compliance, but the reporting needs improvement
Pros and Cons
  • "Data authentication enables us to classify documents based on whether they should be restricted for internal consumption or permitted for external sharing."
  • "Privacy features should be integrated into the core product rather than offered as optional add-ons, as privacy is not a luxury but a fundamental requirement."

What is our primary use case?

We utilize Microsoft Purview to manage our data classifications, identify sensitive information in our documents for certification protection and data loss prevention, and we anticipate employing insider risk management. While we haven't yet implemented insider risk management, it is part of our strategic plan and compliance assessment.

How has it helped my organization?

From an access management standpoint, we have users accessing our data from various mobile devices, including Android, iOS, and iPad, as well as Windows and MacBook computers. Therefore, it is crucial to implement consistent policies and safeguards across all platforms, regardless of the operating system or device type.

We are a heavily Microsoft shop so all Microsoft platforms are important to us and Purview's natively integrated compliance is great.

It is important and useful for us that Purview was built taking into account critical regulations from around the world.

We report on all of our DLP policy violations. We have alerts set up to notify our security team to take action when violations occur.

Microsoft Purview Data Loss Prevention is an effective tool for educating users on how to best handle sensitive data. It can detect and identify various types of sensitive data, although we have observed that not all of the built-in detection mechanisms function flawlessly. Consequently, we have had to modify some of the detection modules. Additionally, certain detection rules specific to New Zealand have not performed as expected. Despite these limitations, the ability to detect sensitive data and utilize prompts to guide users in correctly classifying documents is quite valuable. We intend to expand our use of these features as we progressively deploy Purview across our organization.

We have several Mac OS users in our business, so it is important that Purview can and does extend policies regardless of the platform being used.

Since implementing Purview, the compliance assessment process has been effective. The expansion of country-specific regulations has been a crucial development. In New Zealand, we've utilized built-in privacy act laws and regulations, which have been beneficial. However, I believe the integration of the Copilot tool and advancements in AI will likely bring about continuous changes to the compliance landscape.

With Purview, we can continue using native Microsoft products for scalability, eliminating the need to rely on external vendors. This approach reduces the number of vendors in our environment.

The visibility Purview provides into our estate is useful. We have had a privacy campaign running for the last year and using Purview to essentially see where our data and sensor data are.

Purview enables us to show our compliance in real-time. We would use it to help demonstrate our compliance to regulators.

Purview enables us to save approximately 30 percent of our security team's time by providing visibility into previously obscured areas of our environment. Moreover, Purview is seamlessly integrated into our existing Microsoft licenses, eliminating any additional costs.

Purview helps us stay on top of compliance.

What is most valuable?

Data authentication enables us to classify documents based on whether they should be restricted for internal consumption or permitted for external sharing. This classification allows us to apply appropriate policies to each document type.

The DLP is also a valuable feature that we use.

What needs improvement?

The reporting is limited and has room for improvement.

Privacy features should be integrated into the core product rather than offered as optional add-ons, as privacy is not a luxury but a fundamental requirement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Purview for six months.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of Purview a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Purview can meet our scalability needs.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support used to be more reliable and consistently good. Now, while it's still possible to get assistance from a knowledgeable representative, the overall quality of support has declined.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Neutral

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Azure Information Protection and Symantec DLP. We switched to Microsoft Purview because of the cost savings.

How was the initial setup?

Initial deployment is straightforward as we are a Microsoft shop, facilitating seamless integration with the native platform.

The deployment of Purview involved three individuals: one primary engineer and one architect. The initial deployment phase spanned six weeks, followed by an ongoing tuning process to maintain Purview's up-to-date status.

What was our ROI?

We have seen a return on investment, but it is too early to quantify the exact savings.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Purview is included in our Microsoft E5 licensing. There is no additional cost, but it does require us to maintain an E5 license to continue using Purview.

To fully justify the cost of Purview, it is important to leverage all of its capabilities.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Purview a seven out of ten. While Purview is gradually improving, its reporting capabilities remain subpar. As we introduce additional products like Copilot and others, there will likely be a need for more robust integration plans that outline how these products will interact and the benefits they will provide.

We only use Microsoft Purview in our Microsoft 365 workload environment.

We are currently evaluating AI products like Copilot and several chatGPT-style tools for potential implementation within our organization. However, we are proceeding cautiously until we have fully implemented Purview to address our concerns regarding potential data loss associated with AI product usage. Once we are satisfied with Purview's effectiveness in mitigating these risks, we will accelerate our evaluation and adoption of AI products.

We have 5,000 users who were using Purview for the software, and we have a two-person support team. Every corporate user in our organization has a license to use the solution.

Purview requires regular maintenance because there is an ongoing need to review components like DLP rules and data classification. This ongoing maintenance ensures that the system continues to function effectively and accurately. Additionally, ongoing tuning helps to minimize false positives and false negatives, ensuring that the system accurately detects potential issues.

Ensure clear communication regarding the desired grouping of data classifications and the functioning of the data loss prevention policy. Understanding these aspects is crucial for effective product utilization. User training and communication are essential around the implementation of the data loss prevention policy as it impacts user behavior. Senior leadership should take the lead in championing this initiative, possibly as part of a broader privacy or border protection campaign. Our involvement in this process can be minimal.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Benjamin Chase - PeerSpot reviewer
Engineer at a university with 51-200 employees
Real User
We like the insights the solution provides and the way it can track and manage things
Pros and Cons
  • "I don't know if I've gotten much value out of Purview personally, but our security team loves it. Our biggest concern is leakage or theft of our data because we have a lot of PII and stuff that has not been released. We like the insights Purview provides and the way the solution can track and manage things. I'd say that was probably their favorite piece of it so far. From everything the security team has told me, the policy management and DLP features are working spectacularly."
  • "We have had some issues automating our document management with Power Apps. I haven't been super-disappointed with anything except for Power Apps, which kinda drives me nuts. I think it's because I am a coder who can do things properly, and I keep trying to do things there, but it's not working out the way. The security team is pretty quick. I'm kind of a thorn in their side. I always try to get around stuff. They haven't come to me for anything saying, "Hey, I can't find this information." They're pretty good. Maybe, there's a lack of documentation, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for our team."

What is our primary use case?

Data loss prevention is a significant use case for us. I'm not on the security team, so I don't know exactly what kicked it off, but I believe we wanted Purview for the DLP capabilities first, and that led to us taking advantage of the other aspects of the solution. We have Azure, Purview, Defender, and all of the other Microsoft products. We're trying to leverage and use all of them. 

We have Intune for deployments and things like that. We're rolling out the zero-trust model right now. We use Jamf to manage our Macs because I'm not knowledgeable enough to Intune correctly, and it doesn't have the functionality that Jamf does. We can move over to Intune or whatever. So I think they're definitely trying to push me that way.

What is most valuable?

I don't know if I've gotten much value out of Purview personally, but our security team loves it. Our biggest concern is leakage or theft of our data because we have a lot of PII and stuff that has not been released. We like the insights Purview provides and the way the solution can track and manage things. I'd say that was probably their favorite piece of it so far. From everything the security team has told me, the policy management and DLP features are working spectacularly.

What needs improvement?

We have had some issues automating our document management with Power Apps. I haven't been super-disappointed with anything except for Power Apps, which kinda drives me nuts. I think it's because I am a coder who can do things properly, and I keep trying to do things there, but it's not working out the way. The security team is pretty quick. I'm kind of a thorn in their side. I always try to get around stuff. They haven't come to me for anything saying, "Hey, I can't find this information." They're pretty good. Maybe, there's a lack of documentation, but that doesn't seem to be an issue for our team. 

Another thing involves SharePoint. We have everything in SharePoint up on the cloud, and we want to ensure it's secure, so we have blocked all external access. You need to have one of our devices and our codes. But the C suite wasn't pleased because it was accessible externally for a while. And we have a penetration company that does testing. They were able to harass one of our users enough that they finally clicked the button that says "Approve this Login," so it just takes one time. 

They find red flags everywhere in organizations. The gut reaction was to cut off external access for now and figure out what we can do down the road after that, but this is a stopgap measure. However, the C suite told us that it wasn't good enough, but there was no way somebody outside could access our systems. You need to be on a trusted IP or our VPN. We have conditional access configured.  

We hired an actual outside consultant company to come in And I've been working with them for close to a year now. We're trying to leverage Purview and Power Apps to automate our document management. We have a ticket open with Microsoft because that's one more thing we're struggling with. It's supposed to go through and look for any PII data, like Social Security numbers, etc. We also have really low retention policies. For example, our emails are retained for only six months maximum. Team conversations are saved for two days. They're they're brutal. Legal discovery can be expensive, so they want to make sure we don't have anything to discover. 

I'm wondering if Purview can do some of the things that we're struggling with, and we're tripping over ourselves because the other thing we did was configure it so you have to be in a special group to even access those files. I might be wrong, but I'm pretty sure that Purview Information Protection has a labeling component. Still, I don't know how much it organizes labeled documents, and I think it also includes labeling after detecting user behavior that the system tracks.  They talked about something similar in one of the keynotes I recently listened to. I'm like, "Why are we not doing that?"  I'm looking at how we're just beating our heads against the wall. Even if we get this in place, it would still be very challenging. 

We like this In terms of usability and security. It will be difficult for our teams to do their jobs with all this other garbage in place. At this point, we've got it almost always set up, but it isn't working the way we need it to on the Power Apps side of things. 

And we've got a ticket open with the Power Apps team to figure out why it isn't working because it's supposed to be on a scheduled thing, but we've let it sit for weeks at a time, and nothing ever happens. It doesn't run. And there's no way to monitor. We don't know if it's doing anything, or we can look at our files to make sure that could be improved. 

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using Purview in the last six months.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We are a new company. We broke off from a much larger organization three years ago, but we had about 3,000 people in the last organization, and we're down to 300. Before Purview, I don't think we had anything for DLP because there was so much to do. It was all hands on deck for about a year and a half where we were just trying to get that stuff done.

We have dev and production environments in AWS, and we're using native AWS tools to monitor the applications over there. I don't know how effective they are compared to Purview. We outsourced all of that to another company. The guy who owns it used to work with us.

How was the initial setup?


What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

I am not involved in purchasing. My company is willing to throw as much money as needed to be as secure as possible. Security is our priority, so we'd probably pay for it even if it was pretty expensive.

What other advice do I have?

I rate Microsoft Purview eight out of 10. 

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Edgar Haro - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager Enterprise Data and Analytics at a construction company with 501-1,000 employees
Real User
Helps classify data quickly and effortlessly, saves us time, and improves visibility
Pros and Cons
  • "The ability to classify data quickly and effortlessly is arguably Microsoft Purview's most valuable feature."
  • "Reflecting organizational changes within Purview is impractical."

What is our primary use case?

To ensure compliance with numerous regulations for our data governance initiative, we employ Microsoft Purview for data classification.

How has it helped my organization?

In our specific case, we only have on-premises servers and the same Microsoft cloud platform, Azure. I have not used Microsoft Purview with any other cloud providers like AWS or anything like that. However, it appears that Purview can be used to protect data across multiple clouds and platforms.

In the future, it could be important for us that Purview can connect to iOS, Mac, and Android devices. We will be onboarding data that requires updating some of the tables, descriptions, and other aspects. In that case, it would be beneficial for users to be able to access it from different devices. However, in my case and for the people in IT, we will always be using computers.

Microsoft Purview's native integration with Azure Dynamics and Office compliance is good. We have utilized it with Synapse Analytics and Data Factory, both Microsoft products. The integration is seamless and efficient. However, in the context of Synapse Analytics, its value proposition is less evident. While it is a nice feature, I cannot fully grasp its significance.

It is crucial that Purview was built with consideration for critical regulations from around the world. This is an integral part of the classification rules and it simplifies our work. However, I haven't seen specific references to regulations such as GDPR or PII. There are numerous laws in different states, as well as preferences here in Canada, but I haven't come across specific examples. Nevertheless, the classifications encompass a wide range of government information, sensitive data like financial information, and personal information based on various formats that we can even adjust or create our own. So, it's a positive aspect.

Purview has assisted us in creating an updated catalog that is more realistic. It has also enabled us to quickly classify our data. Additionally, we aim to enrich the data catalog with more metadata, both now and in the future. While this process is primarily manual, we are exploring ways to involve business users to streamline it.

It has improved the visibility into our estate.

Purview allows us to demonstrate our compliance on a near real-time basis. While executing a single scan will provide updated information, it doesn't provide true real-time visibility. To achieve the closest to real-time compliance monitoring, we can execute data extraction processes every four hours.

We have saved around 40 hours per month on some of our projects, which also leads to cost savings.

What is most valuable?

The ability to classify data quickly and effortlessly is arguably Microsoft Purview's most valuable feature. It can scan all tables and columns, identifying those that contain personal names, date builds, or other sensitive information.

What needs improvement?

I am interested in exploring the process of data scanning to identify data lines that do not contain stored procedures. This would allow us to detect potential black boxes within our data, where we are unable to trace the flow of information and identify all instances of stored procedures. Additionally, we would like to expand the reporting capabilities beyond Power BI to encompass other visualization tools such as Tableau, Looker, and others.

Reflecting organizational changes within Purview is impractical. Any such changes necessitate discarding existing data and starting anew, which increases both the cost and time required for maintenance. Therefore, I believe that enhancing Purview's maintainability is crucial.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using Microsoft Purview for one year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

I would rate the stability of Purview a nine out of ten.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Purview is easily scalable in the cloud.

How are customer service and support?

The technical support team was readily available for a Zoom call and was able to view my screen and provide assistance. The only downside was that I ultimately resolved the issue myself, which suggests that the local Microsoft support may not be as knowledgeable.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have used other solutions other than Purview but it doesn't encompass the entire data management lifecycle. For example, Tableau has a data management suite, but it's primarily focused on analyzing reports, enforcing visualization governance, and managing data within Tableau itself. It doesn't extend to data sources or beyond that. Other data management tools in development offer similar functionality, but they may not have specific classifications for personal information.

How was the initial setup?

The initial deployment was straightforward. The cloud administrator handled the subscription and all the necessary paperwork, while I proceeded with the setup.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The price is reasonable considering its value.

What other advice do I have?

I would rate Microsoft Purview nine out of ten. Purview is a good product but still has some areas to improve.

Thus far, we haven't had any comprehensive maintenance for Purview. While there is maintenance required for scanning new servers, that's essentially the extent of our maintenance efforts. We may need to make significant changes to Purview's structure to enhance its usability. Purview's current structure resembles that of an organizational department. For instance, if a marketing application is mistakenly scanned under HR, I cannot simply move it to the correct location. Instead, I must discard all existing data and start from scratch.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud

If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use?

Microsoft Azure
Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Prateek Agarwal - PeerSpot reviewer
Manager at Indian Institute of Management Visakhapatnam
Real User
Top 5Leaderboard
Integrates well and helps with compliance and managing on-premises and multi-cloud data
Pros and Cons
  • "It has notable features for maximizing the value of your data. The data discovery and the data analytics parts are great both on-premises and on-cloud."
  • "The overall cost of deploying this solution could be better. It seems that middle and small-sized organizations are not completely happy with deploying this solution in terms of the cost. It would be good if they concentrate on the cost part."

What is our primary use case?

It is our data governance solution. It has been very helpful for the data discovery and data governance part.

How has it helped my organization?

We are using Microsoft Azure and AWS cloud, as well as some on-premises applications. Using Microsoft Purview is a great experience for us because it provides end-to-end data discovery and data analytics, which enables us to understand the data.

It supports multiple clouds, such as Microsoft Azure and AWS, and multiple operating systems, such as Windows, macOS, and Linux. We have a small group of users with macOS. We have a vast user base with Windows and Linux OS.

It has the capability to connect to various data sources, which we found very useful. In addition to supporting Microsoft data sources, such as Microsoft Power BI for the data analytics part, it also supports the data analytics software by AWS and other AWS tools. It is highly compatible with other cloud computing solutions.

It integrates well with Azure, Dynamics 365, and Office 365. We use Dynamics 365 and Office 365, and we found Microsoft Purview to be very compatible with Dynamics 365 and Office 365. It can also integrate with other Microsoft and non-Microsoft solutions.

It was built taking into account critical regulations from around the world. For the data governance and data privacy part, it is fully compliant with the data policies of various countries. In the case of Indian geography and the Asia Pacific region, for which we are currently using Microsoft Purview, it is compatible with our local data privacy and regulation policies. We can configure group policies in Microsoft Purview to comply with the requirements for the data and its use.

With data discovery, we can easily discover similar patterns or trends in the data currently being used in the organization. It is very helpful because the core purpose of Microsoft Purview is data discovery and data governance. It might be in the catalog, or it might be in the governance part. It is useful for us for such information.

It is very helpful for educating users on how best to handle sensitive data. We can also apply row-level and column-level security in Microsoft Purview so that any type of sensitive information, such as credit card information or health card information, is only visible to specific groups of users, not to all public users. It provides that flexibility, which is valuable. We can easily apply group policies and provide access to a specific group of users. We have millions of rows and hundreds of columns, and we can't give access to all users.

It reduces the number of solutions required for data governance. It also reduces manual effort. 

It has saved our time and cost by 35% to 40%. Previously, the data discovery and data governance part required more manual or human effort. We needed dedicated resources for the data discovery and data governance part. There were five to six resources that we had to hire only for this task. So, there have been overall cost savings for the organization. We now don't have to spend on the salary of those resources and third-party vendors. It eliminates all those costs. 

It gives clear visibility across all our data for data governance and data storage. It helps to know why certain data scans failed. 

It shows the compliance information in real-time. It has a unified dashboard where you can track all your KPIs and policies in an easy way. It has a unified dashboard where you can see all the group policies that you have applied. You can make configuration changes at any time. So, everything is on a real-time basis. The policies that you are applying are also applicable on a real-time basis.

It helps to stay on top of compliance. We can easily apply policies to meet our compliance requirements. In every country, there are specific rules, policies, and regulations. As per the Indian government regulations, there are some specific requirements for the data part. There are some restrictions related to data storage, servers, and the location of the data. 

What is most valuable?

Microsoft Purview is a good solution for data governance. It has notable features for maximizing the value of your data. The data discovery and the data analytics parts are great both on-premises and on-cloud. 

It is great that Microsoft Purview can integrate with Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Power BI, etc. Its capability for data source scanning and classification across multiple clouds is fantastic. It also helps with security and compliance policies and group policies across the organization.

What needs improvement?

The overall cost of deploying this solution could be better. It seems that middle and small-sized organizations are not completely happy with deploying this solution in terms of the cost. It would be good if they concentrate on the cost part. 

Another improvement area is their customer support and service. The resolution time for an issue could be better.

For how long have I used the solution?

It has been more than two years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is now stable. It is now fully matured in the market. There are no issues with the stability part. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is highly scalable

How are customer service and support?

Their support could be better. They aren't able to resolve some issues quickly. They sometimes require up to 72 hours to resolve an issue. I would rate their support an 8 out of 10.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Previously, we didn't have a specific tool for data discovery and data governance. All the things were done manually at our end.

How was the initial setup?

It is straightforward because it is a cloud service. You just need to enable that service and pay as you go.

It doesn't require any manual maintenance from our end because it is fully managed by Microsoft. All the upgrades, updates, and patches are fully managed by Microsoft.

What about the implementation team?

It was implemented in-house, but we got help from a Microsoft solutions architect. There were six to seven people involved in its implementation.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

Its pricing is good in terms of the features that they are providing, but there are many competitors in the market who can easily provide you with similar services at a lesser cost.

Which other solutions did I evaluate?

We evaluated Collibra for data governance, but because we were using Microsoft Azure, we found Microsoft Purview to be more compatible. So, the integration and the compatibility parts were the main reasons. We were already using Microsoft Azure as the cloud computing tool. We wanted the new solution to be compatible with Microsoft Azure, as well as services running within Microsoft Azure. We were also using Microsoft Power BI and other Microsoft solutions, and we could easily integrate Microsoft Purview with our existing solutions.

What other advice do I have?

Overall, it is a good solution, and that's why we are currently using it. It has features with AI/ML-based algorithms, but we generally do not use them because we are focusing more on the data governance and data discovery part. 

If you're using Microsoft solutions, it is highly recommended because compatibility would not be an issue. We went for it because compatibility with our existing solutions was our priority.

I would rate it a 9 out of 10 because no solution is perfect.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Enterprise data architect at a non-profit with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Works seamlessly with Microsoft products but not with third-party products
Pros and Cons
  • "Their data labeling or data classification is particularly valuable because we want to categorize all of our data into confidential, public, or internal."
  • "It supports only a limited number of tools and technologies that pertain to Microsoft products. If you want to leverage other solutions such as Workday or Oracle Fusion, features will be coming up, but as of now, it is for the Microsoft suite."

What is our primary use case?

We migrated everything to the Azure cloud. Microsoft Purview was coming up at the time, and we also started looking into their other products such as Microsoft Power Platform, particularly Power BI. We wanted to see how these particular tools can go head to head and how they would be useful. This is when we started with Microsoft Purview. The POC itself took more than a year because it was not easy. The tool was growing. It took a long time to get their product support help to fix some of the issues and features. 

In the last year, we started using it for a few things. One is mainly data protection. We mainly targeted the scenarios where when someone is sending a document in an email or labeling a document as confidential, what the person receiving the document can do. 

We are trying to cover Microsoft 365-related products. We are trying to use it for the data discovery process. That is the end goal. Across the organization, we want people to be able to find the data easily. There is a kind of data marketplace, and we started to use it for data discovery.

How has it helped my organization?

Data discovery is one of the beautiful things of Microsoft Purview. We mostly have Microsoft products, so it has been helpful, but we are continuously growing. We are still in the learning stage with this product. We are trying to onboard only a small amount of data, and then we will see how we can curate the data so that it is meaningful. Slowly, and probably after a year, we will come to know how efficiently we are using Microsoft Purview as a part of the data discovery phase.

Microsoft Purview is a cloud-native app. So far, we have only used it with Windows with Chrome or Edge browser, and it works seamlessly. It is not a problem. We have not used it with other OSs, but it should work with them.

Microsoft Purview was built taking into account critical regulations from around the world. Data classification is one of the beautiful features. It works seamlessly.

Microsoft Purview's natively integrated compliance across Azure, Dynamics 365, and Office 365 is perfect.

Microsoft Purview enables you to show your compliance in real time. There is the Insights dashboard, which is particularly for security officers. They can always go and have a look. If there are any compliance issues with the portal, they can always go and check anytime.

Microsoft Purview has helped to reduce the time to action on insider threats, but I do not have the metrics. We are in the discovery phase. After a year, we should be able to provide exact metrics. As of now, we just look into the issue and take action. It is helping to reduce the errors. In terms of percentage, there are about 20% savings.

Microsoft Purview will save us time and overall product delivery costs. Product data discovery should be easy, which will reduce the overall product delivery time. This is something that we are working on. There should be at least 10% savings on the project delivery time.

What is most valuable?

There are several features. Their data labeling or data classification is particularly valuable because we want to categorize all of our data into confidential, public, or internal. Microsoft Purview works seamlessly with the Microsoft product suite, including Office 365, to schematize the data assets, so data labeling and classification have been helpful.

Microsoft Purview can connect with all of our security-related things across Office 365. It easily connects with Microsoft Defender. The integration with Microsoft Defender is good.

It works well for schematized data assets for lineage tracking. Overall, it works well if someone is using mostly Microsoft products.

What needs improvement?

It is still growing. It does not meet all the requirements from the security point of view. It supports only a limited number of tools and technologies that pertain to Microsoft products. If you want to leverage other solutions such as Workday or Oracle Fusion, features will be coming up, but as of now, it is for the Microsoft suite. 

It is still growing as a data connector platform for supporting ingestion from non-Microsoft data sources, so not all the products are supported as of now. 

As a data catalog tool, it needs to have a connection with all the sources. This improvement is definitely needed because they are supporting only Microsoft-related products but not third-party products.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started to explore Microsoft Purview when they launched it. It was the end of 2021.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It is a stable product, and continuous improvements are always coming in. After a year, it probably will be a complete tool for all sorts of uses. I would rate it an eight out of ten for stability.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It is unlimited. I would rate it a ten out of ten in terms of scalability.

We currently have 10 to 20 people using the tool. It is deployed as part of information technology from the IT management, and we try to circulate it by onboarding various sets of users from various departments.

How are customer service and support?

Last week, I raised an issue with technical support. It issue was a priority for us. Within a couple of hours, they got back. They were efficient with this particular product. I would rate them a nine out of ten.

How would you rate customer service and support?

Positive

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We used some of the manual processes. We built a data catalog using Vast data services.

How was the initial setup?

It is deployed on the cloud. The deployment time is much less, but because it is a data cataloging tool, curating the data takes time. Spinning of the environment and starting it can be done in a couple of hours.

It definitely requires maintenance from the data security and data scanning point of view.

What about the implementation team?

We have a data governance team. 

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It is cheap. It is based on consumption. If somebody wants to start using it, the price is definitely cheaper than a tool like Collibra.

What other advice do I have?

I would definitely recommend Microsoft Purview. However, it is not good for data quality. If you are not looking for data quality and you only want a complete security and data cataloging tool, it is perfect.

It is still maturing. At this time, I would rate Microsoft Purview a six out of ten.

Disclosure: PeerSpot contacted the reviewer to collect the review and to validate authenticity. The reviewer was referred by the vendor, but the review is not subject to editing or approval by the vendor.
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Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Purview Data Governance Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free Microsoft Purview Data Governance Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.