Read on to learn What is Azure Purview and how it may help with data governance
Microsoft Azure Purview is a cloud-based portal that offers unified data governance services. It exists as a Software as a Service (SaaS). It is capable of working both on-site and in the cloud.
Microsoft Azure Purview allows its users to identify and discover valuable data. It offers unmatched security features and capabilities to protect data. It allows users to create a holistic data map for a deeper understanding. In this article, we explain how Azure Purview helps with data governance.
Data Catalog
- Data Catalog is the main component of Azure Purview. It allows users to view their data collections and assets in two ways, first by collections and second by source type. The data catalog has several options for filtering the data, such as object type, classifications, experts, data owners, and glossary terms.
Clicking on the desired asset will take the users to the landing page that has all the related information and a direct link to the service. Although permissions are required to access a service, Azure Purview does not provide permissions management. This can be done by Azure IAM and external access mechanisms depending on the case.
- Glossary terms provide enhanced filtering capabilities to the data catalog. Glossary terms contain metadata that allows the users to set a name, acronyms, descriptions, etc. There is an option to assign data experts as contact points for each glossary term, thus increasing the overall ease of use of the system.
Data Map
- The data map allows data to be scanned from a variety of user-defined sources. These sources include Amazon Web Services (AWS), SaaS applications such as Snowflake, or on-site/on-prem. Each source has its own configurations to manage data access. In the case of Azure, a managed instance needs to be configured that offers a Reader access to required services.
For external services, roles have to be defined using integration runtimes, or by using credentials. In the dashboard, sources are shown using dashed boxes that belong to collections.
- Collections allow users to set access policies and roles. However, the general rule is that each source can only belong to a single collection. Once data sources have been set up, Scans need to be defined and run. Scans help read the metadata and allow the user to browse data in the data catalog.
Scans are created within each source and a connection mechanism helps configure what data needs to be scanned. This mechanism also helps set the frequency of scans. Once the data is canned in the catalog, it is now referred to as an asset. All information relevant to the asset can be viewed on the asset page. Azure Purview can be configured according to the user’s requirements for the best results.
Data Insights
Depending on the data, insights will be generated automatically that help users to get a better understanding. Each visualization offers a “view details” option that displays all the information in tabular format. The insights available can be about:
Assets: Creative visualizations such as tree maps, line charts, and bar charts based on size and count. These visualizations are filtered on the basis of classification and source type.- Scans: A time-series bar chart displays the number of failed, canceled, and successful scans. This can be filtered by dates.
- Glossary Terms: Pie charts are used to display information about the number of glossary terms, and the contact points associated with them.
- Classifications: The number of classifications and the assets classified can be visualized, with four visualizations catering to the top classifications.
- Sensitivity: Sensitivity information is visualized in a manner similar to classifications.
Data Lineage
- Data lineage helps keep track of all the changes from data creation to data consumption. Each dataset’s lineage can be tracked and checked as per the user’s requirements. Data lineage in Azure Purview also monitors data health, quality, status, and characteristics.
Data lineage is a powerful tool in Azure Purview that can work in services such as Azure Data Lake, Azure Database, and Data Factory.
Henson Group is one of the best Managed Service Providers (MSP) for Microsoft Azure, with a strong global network of professionals and experts. If you are interested in using Azure Purview, then get in touch with us today. Let our experts help you get started with Azure Purview with peace of mind.