Years ago in an Information Manager role, I started to see the potential in SharePoint for managing information across an organisation. It sounds boring, but like information quality, if you don't invest in this area, the value of your information decreases and your operations may not run as smoothly as you wanted. But until until get through the boring bits, the exciting value doesn't come. Now you can get there quicker.
Microsoft has been investing in this area for several years, and Viva Topics brought much of the information awesomeness together, before Microsoft announced it would be going again. But what is this? Enter stage left ... Microsoft Purview has landed! and it has a new portal.
Purview provides those in data, and information governance and security roles the tools they need to get moving. If you are in one of these roles I'd recommend taking an appropriate ringfenced look at what your information estate already has. This way you can start to categorise your risks and start to manage them.
A great extension to this is the Data Loss Prevention Policies you can add. This provides you the controls to prevent unauthorised download of sensitive HR records or financial information with company wide policies to stop Dropbox, WhatsApp, Screen grabs, unauthorised shares and that sort of stuff.
..and the limit on only viewing data on your Microsoft estate is also over! You can draw in databases like Oracle.
Worried about the proliferation of Copilot?
Keep watching this space because Purview and Copilot will soon be able to discover and secure all AI activity in Microsoft Copilot and other generative AI apps. Keep your data safe and stay on track with industry regulations in the Purview AI Hub.
Gareth Jones is CEO and Founder of Lightrise Consulting (www.lightriseconsulting.com) a specialist Microsoft Partner providing business answers and solutions to improve ESG and people experiences.
