The Role of Microsoft Fabric in Data Governance and Compliance for Modern Enterprises

In today’s data-driven world, effective data governance and compliance are crucial for modern enterprises. Microsoft Fabric offers a comprehensive suite of tools and features designed to help organizations manage, protect, and comply with data regulations. This blog explores the key roles Microsoft Fabric plays in data governance and compliance, providing practical examples to illustrate its capabilities.

1. Managing Your Data Estate

At the core of Microsoft Fabric’s governance and compliance features is its ability to effectively manage data assets.

The Microsoft Fabric admin portal serves as a centralized hub, enabling administrators to oversee the entire Fabric estate. This includes tenant settings, domains, and workspaces, with the flexibility to delegate certain aspects of administration and governance to respective admins within their scope.

Figure 1-1 Microsoft Fabric Admin Portal

Example: An enterprise can use the admin portal to define domains and delegate management responsibilities to domain and capacity owners. This ensures that each department can manage its data according to specific needs while maintaining overall governance standards.

2. Securing and Protecting Data

Security is a non-negotiable aspect of data governance. Microsoft Fabric provides comprehensive tools to secure and protect data within the workspace. This includes metadata scanning, auditing, and the implementation of Microsoft Purview Information Protection, which allows for the discovery, classification, and protection of Fabric data using sensitivity labels.

Figure 2‑1 Sensitivity Label Management in Microsoft Purview Hub

Example: A financial institution can leverage Microsoft Fabric’s encryption and access control features to protect sensitive customer data. By setting up detailed audit logs, the institution can track data access and modifications, ensuring compliance with regulations like GDPR and CCPA.

3. Encouraging Data Discovery and Trust

A significant advantage of Microsoft Fabric is its ability to promote data discovery and build trust.

By endorsing data reuse and trust, Microsoft Fabric facilitates a secure environment where data consumers can find valuable data without compromising compliance standards.

Figure 3‑1 Data lineage across different Microsoft Fabric Items

Example: A healthcare provider can use data lineage tracking to trace the source of patient data, ensuring that all data used in research and reporting is accurate and reliable. This builds trust among stakeholders and supports compliance with healthcare regulations.

4. Integration with Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Fabric’s integration with Microsoft Purview is a testament to its comprehensive approach to governance. Microsoft Purview and Microsoft Fabric work in tandem to govern the entire data estate and lineage, from the data source down to the Power BI report. This seamless integration ensures that enterprises can store, analyze, and govern their data without the need to piece together services from multiple vendors.

To access the Microsoft Purview Hub, open the Fabric settings pane and choose Microsoft Purview hub.

Figure 4‑1 Microsoft Purview Hub Entry in Microsoft Fabric Portal

In the Purview Hub of Microsoft Fabric, we can see the different Fabric data items and how they are managed from a data governance perspective including applied sensitivity labels on Fabric items.

Monitoring is crucial for governance, and Microsoft Fabric offers a monitoring hub that provides insights into the data assets. This helps uncover potential risks and act upon them promptly to maintain compliance and governance standards.

Figure 4‑2 Items statistics in Microsoft Fabric Purview Hub Portal

Figure 4‑3 Microsoft Fabric Workspaces are managed in the Data Catalog of Microsoft Purview

Example: A large-scale corporation can leverage Microsoft Fabric and its integration with Microsoft Purview to automatically scan and govern the entire data lake in OneLake, and even the data owner can self-service and build and maintain the data catalogue. This not only saves time but also ensures that the organization remains compliant with evolving legal requirements.

Conclusion

For modern enterprises, the role of Microsoft Fabric in data governance and compliance is indispensable. It provides a unified data platform that addresses the complexities of managing sensitive information while meeting the demands of compliance regulations. As organizations navigate the challenges of the digital landscape, Microsoft Fabric stands as a reliable ally, ensuring that data governance and compliance are not just goals but achievable realities.

If you want to explore Microsoft Fabric’s governance and compliance capabilities, please feel free to reach out to our NTT DATA team.

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