What is Microsoft Purview: Your In Depth Guide
Today, data flows through numerous channels, including emails, documents, chats, and cloud applications, and is shared across both cloud and on-premises environments, spanning borders and involving individuals within and outside your organization.
Data moves at the speed of business, making its management and protection more complex than ever before. This complexity is amplified with the adoption of Copilot, where ensuring robust information protection becomes not just important, but critical.
Data is one of your organization’s most valuable yet vulnerable assets. As your digital footprint expands, the challenge of securing, monitoring, and governing this data grows exponentially. So, how do you protect sensitive information in a business world that never sleeps?
You might think the answer is simple, but it is actually quite complex. Why? Every employee creates, accesses, and shares data, often with few guardrails or checks and balances. As a result, it's easy to lose control of sensitive data.
That’s why business leaders and IT managers need a unified and comprehensive security solution that not only ensures compliance but also delivers complete visibility and control over sensitive data across all environments.
And that’s where Microsoft Purview comes in, and what we’re exploring today. For Microsoft 365-focused organizations, Purview offers a complete set of tools to govern, protect, and manage data wherever it resides.
Are you ready to take control of your data security? Read on to discover its key features, practical benefits, and why it should be a cornerstone of your modern governance strategy.
What is Microsoft Purview?
So, let’s start with a definition. Microsoft Purview is a comprehensive data security platform that helps organizations safeguard their data assets. It combines advanced data classification, protection, and compliance tools with robust risk management capabilities to create a strong and unified framework for securing and sharing sensitive information across teams, departments, and organizations.
Microsoft Purview Information Protection brings together the capabilities of Azure Purview and Microsoft 365 compliance solutions into a single platform. This integration addresses common challenges such as fragmented data and limited visibility, which often hinder effective data governance.
The Purview brand originated as Azure Purview, with a focus on data governance and management. In April 2022, Microsoft expanded the brand into Microsoft Purview, making it the umbrella suite for all data security and compliance services in Microsoft 365. This means tools you may already know, such as AIP (Azure Information Protection) and MIP (Microsoft Information Protection), are now part of the Microsoft Purview family.
And, with Microsoft Purview, you can:
- Gain visibility into data across your organization
- Safeguard and manage sensitive data across its lifecycle, wherever it lives
- Govern data seamlessly in new, comprehensive ways
- Manage critical data risks and regulatory compliance requirements
Before We Get to the ‘How’…
Before diving into implementation, let’s examine the key capabilities that make Microsoft Purview such a powerful solution. Think of these as the tools in Purview’s security and compliance toolkit, each designed to address a specific aspect of data governance and protection.
Key Features of Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to help organizations secure, govern, and manage data across both cloud and on-premises environments. Here’s an overview of its core capabilities:
Audit
Track and record user and admin activities with detailed event logs. Audit helps organizations meet regulatory requirements and supports forensic investigations by providing visibility into data access and changes.
Communication Compliance
Maintain a safe and compliant workplace by identifying sensitive or inappropriate content in business communications. This tool helps enforce company policies across email, Teams, and other collaboration platforms.
Compliance Manager
Simplify complex regulatory requirements into actionable steps. Compliance Manager provides risk-based assessments, a compliance score, and guidance to help you improve your organization’s compliance posture.
Data Lifecyle Management
Classify and manage data at scale with retention labels and policies. This helps your organization meet legal and regulatory requirements while handling data effectively throughout its lifecycle.
Data Loss Prevention (DLP)
Prevent accidental or unauthorized sharing of sensitive information. DLP policies monitor and control data across Microsoft 365 apps, endpoints, and on-premises systems, reducing the risk of data leaks.
eDiscovery
Streamline legal and compliance investigations with end-to-end workflows. eDiscovery enables you to identify, preserve, and review relevant data in a single, centralized location, thereby reducing the time and cost associated with legal matters.
Information Protection
Implement encryption, access controls, and rights management policies to safeguard sensitive data, whether it is stored, shared internally, or transmitted outside your organization.
Insider Risk Management
Detect and mitigate insider threats, including data theft, leaks, and policy violations, to ensure the integrity of sensitive information. This tool uses behavioural analytics to identify risky activities while maintaining user privacy.
Unified Data Governance (Data Map & Catalogue)
Gain a comprehensive view of your data estate across multi-cloud and hybrid environments. The unified data map and catalogue help you understand data lineage, improve visibility, and consistently enforce governance policies.
Business Benefits of Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is more than just compliance tools; it provides businesses with a strategic advantage, enabling organizations to protect sensitive data, maintain trust, and boost productivity. Here’s how Purview helps your business:
Smarter Data Classification
Microsoft Purview employs intelligent classification to identify and label sensitive information across your entire data estate. This ensures that critical data is consistently protected and controlled, thereby reducing the risk of breaches and supporting a zero-trust approach.
Stronger Data Governance
With Purview, you get a single view of your data, whether it’s in Microsoft 365, on-premises, or across multiple clouds. This visibility helps eliminate silos, enforce consistent policies, and support informed decisions about your data.
Regulatory Compliance
Meeting regulatory requirements doesn’t have to be daunting. Purview provides built-in templates, compliance scoring, and actionable insights to help you prepare for audits and avoid costly penalties.
Holistic View of Sensitive Data
Purview provides a clear view of where sensitive data resides, how it is moved, and who has access to it. This level of transparency is essential for reducing risk and ensuring responsible data use.
Proactive Risk Management
Insider threats and accidental data leaks pose real challenges and serious risks to modern businesses. Purview combines Insider Risk Management, DLP, and Adaptive Protection to detect risky behaviour early and apply the proper controls, without slowing down your operations.
Actionable Insights for Better Decisions
Purview converts compliance and governance data into valuable insights, helping you refine policies, enhance your security posture, and effectively prepare your organization for AI-powered tools like Microsoft Copilot.
Complete Environment Protection
Microsoft Purview eliminates the need for multiple point solutions by providing comprehensive coverage across your entire data estate, whether in the cloud, on-premises, or hybrid environments. Unlike vendors that focus on only one area, Purview brings governance and protection together on a single platform.
Deep Microsoft 365 Integration
Microsoft Purview is designed to integrate seamlessly within the Microsoft 365 ecosystem, with Adaptive Protection serving as a key example of this effective integration. Alongside your familiar Microsoft 365 tools, such as Teams, Outlook, and OneDrive, it combines Insider Risk Management (which monitors user activity and flags behaviours that may indicate increased risk) with Data Loss Prevention (DLP) policies.
When Insider Risk Management identifies a user as high-risk, such as from unusual data downloads or policy breaches, Adaptive Protection automatically adjusts DLP controls for that user. This results in stricter restrictions for high-risk users, while regular users continue working without unnecessary limitations. This leads to enhanced security that operates automatically, adapting in real-time without disrupting productivity.
Smooth and Rapid Deployment
As an entirely cloud-based solution, Purview is easy to deploy and scale. There’s no infrastructure to manage, so your team can focus on policies and protection, rather than servers and storage.
Cost Efficiency
Purview helps reduce costs by automating data discovery and classification, removing the need for manual processes or custom-built tools. Its per-user, per-month pricing model ensures you only pay for what you need, making it a scalable and cost-effective solution for organizations of any size.
Is Microsoft Purview Included with Microsoft E3 and E5 Licences?
Microsoft licensing is never a simple topic, and Purview is no exception. A few good resources to help navigate this are:
- Microsoft Compliance and Information Protection Licensing Guide
- All About Microsoft Purview Sensitivity Labels
- Microsoft 365 Licensing
However, the simple version is that users require Office 365 E3 or higher to manually apply a label. In contrast, the automatic policy-driven application of labels requires Office 365 E5, Microsoft 365 E5, or Microsoft 365 E5 compliance licenses. And here’s how that translates into your daily workflows:
With Microsoft 365 E3, you receive core Purview features, including basic Information Protection (manual sensitivity labelling), Data Loss Prevention (DLP) for Exchange, SharePoint, and OneDrive, as well as standard eDiscovery and audit tools. These establish a strong foundation for compliance and data governance.
With Microsoft 365 E5, you unlock the full potential of Purview. This includes automated and machine learning-based classification, Endpoint DLP, DLP for Teams, Advanced eDiscovery, Insider Risk Management, and Adaptive Protection. E5 also provides extended audit log retention and advanced compliance analytics, making it ideal for organizations with complex regulatory or security requirements.
For businesses on E3 that require advanced features, Microsoft provides add-on licences such as Microsoft 365 E5 Compliance or Information Protection and Governance packs, allowing you to expand capabilities without switching to a full E5 plan.
Why Information Protection Can’t Wait
As AI tools like Microsoft Copilot become increasingly integrated into daily workflows, the need to safeguard sensitive information has never been more urgent. These technologies offer significant productivity improvements, but without strong data governance, they risk unintentionally exposing confidential data to unauthorized access or misuse.
The Rising Risk of AI Adoption
According to Concentric AI’s Data Risk Report, Copilot accessed nearly 3 million sensitive records per organization in the first half of 2025. That represents 55% of all externally shared files, many of which contain critical business information; a clear sign that AI adoption is outpacing security readiness.
Meanwhile, IBM reports the global average cost of a data breach hit $4.44 million in 2025. While this marks a slight decline from the previous year, thanks to faster AI-powered detection and containment, the risks remain high. Traditional security boundaries are eroding as remote work, cloud platforms, SaaS apps, and partner networks enable data to flow more freely than ever. In this context, visibility and control over your data are no longer optional.
Microsoft Purview: A Unified Approach
Microsoft Purview addresses these challenges head-on by integrating data discovery, classification, and protection into a single platform. With features like:
- Automated labelling for sensitive data
- Risk-based access controls to prevent unauthorized exposure
- Comprehensive audit logs for compliance and incident response
Purview empowers organizations to quickly identify and protect sensitive data, respond to threats effectively, and maintain compliance without hindering collaboration.
By embedding strong security and governance practices into the same workflows where Copilot and other AI tools operate, Purview helps businesses confidently manage sensitive information in today’s complex digital environment. The result? Enhanced productivity without compromising security.
How to Deploy Microsoft Purview
For businesses embarking on a data and compliance journey with Microsoft Purview, deployment can feel intimidating. Unlike many cybersecurity tools that sit solely within IT, Purview is as much a business operations initiative as it is a technical one. A clear strategy and stakeholder alignment are essential to maximize its capabilities and deliver organization-wide benefits.
End-user adoption is often the biggest challenge, so securing stakeholder buy-in early is essential. Begin by defining what data requires protection, identifying the sources within scope, and outlining the regulatory requirements you must comply with. Once these priorities are clear, deployment becomes more organized and user adoption easier.
Microsoft strongly recommends a Crawl, Walk, Run approach rather than a big-bang rollout. Start with a limited scope for specific users, sites, or mailboxes and use Audit or Test modes to verify policies. Next, switch to User Override mode, allowing users to learn and adapt, before transitioning to Full Block mode when your organization is ready. This phased approach reduces disruption and builds trust across teams.
To assist you on your journey, we’ve developed some resources to help you plan and implement Purview effectively:
- Webinar: Teams-First Information Architecture & Governance – Learn how to structure Teams for security and compliance.
- Webinar: Safe Sharing with Purview Information Protection and the Traffic Light Protocol – Discover practical strategies for secure collaboration.
- Webinar: Take Flight with Microsoft Copilot – Explore how Purview supports safe AI adoption.
- Upcoming webinar: Copilot and Security Readiness with Microsoft Purview – How to integrate AI-powered tools, such as Copilot, into your security strategy and enhance your data governance with a proven 90-day information protection implementation plan.
Beginning with a small approach, iterating, and using these best practices will help you fully realize the benefits of Microsoft Purview, all while staying productive and compliant.
Conclusion
For the modern enterprise, data is both your greatest asset and your biggest risk. As sensitive information moves across cloud platforms, on-premises systems, and AI-powered tools like Microsoft Copilot, the need for strong data protection and governance has never been more critical.
Think of Microsoft Purview as your organization’s ultimate data protection toolkit. Inside this tool belt, you’ll find everything you need—data discovery, classification, protection, and compliance—all working together in one integrated platform.
By adopting Purview, you’re not just checking a compliance box; you’re equipping your business with the tools to build a resilient, future-ready data strategy. This approach empowers your teams to collaborate securely, innovate confidently, and stay ahead of evolving risks without sacrificing productivity.
Whether you’re starting small or scaling enterprise-wide, the key is to plan strategically, deploy in phases, and leverage Purview’s deep integration with Microsoft 365. Doing so will help you reduce risk, simplify compliance, and unlock actionable insights that drive more intelligent decisions.
How Envision IT Can Help Secure Your Data
Envision IT is your trusted partner in information protection and compliance, helping organizations across industries strengthen their data security posture. Our expert consulting services guide you through the complexities of Microsoft Purview deployment, covering data classification and labelling strategies, secure sharing practices, and AI readiness, to ensure your business data is secure, compliant, and future-ready, while supporting your overall objectives and empowering your team.
Take your security and compliance management to the next level with the M365 Tenant Dashboard. This powerful tool gives you a centralized view of your Microsoft 365 environment, helping you monitor, analyze, and optimize your tenant’s health and security posture.
👉 Sign up for a free trial today and experienhttps://envisionit.comce how easy it is to gain actionable insights and maintain control over your Microsoft 365 environment.
For a more hands-on approach, explore our Information Protection and Governance strategy services, along with our other Microsoft 365 Services. Contact us to speak with one of our specialists and learn how we can help you build a modern information protection strategy that simplifies governance and empowers secure collaboration.
Don’t miss our upcoming live webinar on October 23!
Copilot and Security Readiness in 90 Days will explore how to integrate AI-powered tools, such as Copilot, into your security strategy and enhance your data governance with Microsoft Purview.