Strategic Insights for Safeguarding Information with Microsoft Purview

Summary: Successful Microsoft Purview deployments require more than just technical implementation—they demand strategic planning, cross-functional collaboration, and ongoing optimization. Read about the key steps required to configure, deploy, and refine Microsoft Purview to strengthen data governance and compliance. And discover how Purview, when integrated with Microsoft Copilot, enhances productivity while maintaining security and regulatory alignment.

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In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, organizations face unique burdens related to managing vast amounts of data while ensuring its security, compliance, and governance. Effective data governance is critical to maintaining stakeholder trust and achieving operational efficiency. Our teams have seen firsthand how Microsoft Purview, when strategically deployed, has emerged as a leading platform to address these pain points. In this blog post, we’ll explore how organizations can optimize their M365 Purview deployments to enhance their data governance posture and position themselves to meet emerging challenges successfully.  
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Preparing for a successful Microsoft Purview deployment

Achieving success with Microsoft Purview requires a combination of technical expertise, strategic planning, and organizational alignment. Before embarking on the project, take these steps:

• Appoint a data governance team: Create a dedicated team responsible for managing the Purview implementation, monitoring policies, and driving adoption.
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• Align policies with regulatory requirements: Ensure your policies align with applicable industry regulations to avoid compliance gaps.
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• Foster cross-departmental collaboration: Engage stakeholders from IT, legal, HR, and other departments to ensure policies are comprehensive and actionable.
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• Commit to ongoing training: Establish a training program to keep your team updated on Purview’s ever-evolving features and best practices.

By taking these proactive steps, your team can lay the groundwork for a seamless and successful Microsoft Purview deployment.
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Optimizing Microsoft Purview deployment

To maximize the value of Microsoft Purview, we have developed a strategic approach to deploying it:

• ‍Define clear objectives: Start by identifying your organization’s specific data protection goals. Are you focusing on compliance, mitigating insider threats, or securing sensitive information? Defining objectives will guide the implementation strategy.
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• Conduct a data discovery audit: Before deploying Purview, we perform a thorough audit of your data estate, identifying sensitive data locations, usage patterns, and access vulnerabilities.
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• Leverage automated classification: Customize automated classification rules to align with your organization’s unique data protection needs.
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• ‍Integrate with existing tools: Implement a cohesive security strategy by linking Purview with your existing IT and security infrastructure, including SIEM, DLP, and endpoint protection tools.
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• Invest in training and change management: Educate employees about Purview’s capabilities and the importance of data governance. Foster a culture of accountability and security awareness to promote adoption.
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• Monitor and refine policies: Use Purview’s analytics to monitor your data governance program; adjust and refine the protocols to address emerging threats and compliance requirements.

This strategic approach ensures that your governance team fully leverages Purview’s capabilities to address organizational needs.

Enhancing productivity with Microsoft Copilot

Copilot is an AI-powered assistant integrated into Microsoft 365 apps. It complements Purview by providing real-time intelligence and drives efficiency and productivity by performing specific tasks:

• ‍Content creation and editing: Copilot helps users draft, edit, and summarize documents, emails, and presentations, saving time and improving accuracy.
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• Data analysis: Copilot can analyze data, generate insights, and create visualizations, making it easier to understand and act on data. This has proven particularly helpful in Excel.
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• Meeting transcription and summarization: Copilot can record and transcribe Teams meetings then generate summarized meeting notes and identify action items, improving collaboration.
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• Task automation: Copilot automates repetitive tasks, allowing users to focus on more strategic activities.  

By integrating Copilot with Purview, we have helped clients harness the power of both tools to enhance compliance, governance, and operation outcomes.
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Conclusion

Microsoft Purview is a transformative tool that empowers organizations to secure sensitive information, achieve compliance, and effectively govern their data. With a well-defined deployment strategy and commitment to optimization, Purview can tackle the challenges of modern data management. We’ve seen how our tailored strategies and deep expertise help clients harness the full potential of Purview to protect their most valuable asset: information.  

Are you ready to elevate your data protection strategy with Microsoft Purview and enhance productivity with Microsoft Copilot? The proactive steps and the strategic approach we’ve outlined are important first steps: download your Purview checklist here.

Learn more about how Lighthouse is helping organizations with these challenges and others on our Microsoft Security Solutions page. With deep legal and regulatory expertise combined with technical proficiencies in M365, our team is helping clients excel, from aligning governance strategies with legal obligations to tailoring Purview deployments.