The use of Microsoft 365, Microsoft Azure, and Microsoft Teams has grown exponentially in recent years. This increase in use has introduced a lot of complexity when it comes to security, privacy, and compliance.
Fortunately, Microsoft realizes the governance and protection of your data forms the foundation of your success. This is why they have built data governance and protection into their products, so you can rest assured your data is safe and secure. But before we get into that, let’s talk about the data governance and data protection and how they are related.
Data Governance vs. Data Protection
The difference between data governance and data protection was once very clear. Data governance was the act of managing data and improving its quality, while data protection was the act of ensuring data is secure and only accessible by authorized individuals. These definitions still hold true today, but these two disciplines are also interconnected in a way they weren’t before.
Essentially, data protection is now an aspect of data governance. Data governance requires a set of policies and processes that ensures there is a person assigned to be accountable for the protection of the data, in addition to providing direction on the collection, accuracy, storage, and disposal of that data.
Microsoft 365 Data Governance & Protection
Microsoft 365 comes with data governance built into the platform. Called Microsoft Information Governance (MIG), the platform delivers capabilities that allow you to govern your data to ensure you are compliant with all relevant regulatory requirements.
MIG makes it possible to govern your data and keep only the information you need. Simply delete what you don’t need and keep your entire digital estate up-to-date. In addition, MIG allows you to manage your high-value data based on the workflows required by business, legal and regulatory requirements.
When it comes to the licensing requirements for MIG, it is based on the features you need. Microsoft provides documentation in the form of Information Governance and Records Management for more information.
Microsoft Teams Data Governance & Protection
Microsoft Teams data governance and protection is tied closely to the management of group and team memberships. Within this platform, you can customize your policies for naming groups and teams and for the expiration, retention and archiving of those groups and teams and their data, automating the group or team lifecycle.
In addition, you have the ability to classify groups and teams and determine who has permanent and guest access, ensuring tight management of each group and team you have set up. This allows you to strictly control who has access to the discussions, projects and information that is passed between team members. Plus, you can control the features each team member has access to, including features such as messaging, calling and meeting features.
Microsoft Azure Data Governance & Protection
Microsoft Azure Purview is a unified data governance solution that ensures the proper governance of on-premise, hybrid, multi-cloud or software-as-a-service (SaaS) data. Best of all, Azure Purview offers the tools that allow you to get a bird’s-eye view of your data, where it is located and how it is moving. These tools include:
- Automated data discovery, classification and lineage identification
- The classification of sensitive data
- A unified map of all your data assets
- A complete glossary of your data that includes technical and business search terms
- Built-in insights on where data is located and how it is moving across your data estate
Microsoft Azure Purview makes it possible to maximize the value of your server data and Power BI data. It also allows you to combine data governance and analytics with Azure Synapse Analytics.
With Azure Purview, you only pay for the features you need. And since you do not need to carry the cost of data discovery and classification or maintain onsite systems and solutions, your data management costs are significantly reduced.
Keep in mind that each of the Microsoft products and their data governance and protection tools and technologies are interrelated and work with each other to create an overarching data governance and protection protocol for your organization.
Connect with an expert at Icon Security and discover how you can make Microsoft data governance and protection work for your organization.
