Know where your data lives, who can access it, and how it flows, with automated classification, compliance controls, and end-to-end data lineage that cover people and AI agents alike.
Data governance is no longer optional — it is a regulatory requirement and a business imperative. Microsoft Purview provides a unified data governance platform that helps organisations discover, classify, protect, and govern their data across the entire Microsoft ecosystem and beyond. From GDPR compliance to Cyber Essentials certification, from data classification to lineage tracking, Purview gives you confidence that your data is secure, compliant, and well-managed. Veriland Consulting implements governance frameworks that balance protection with productivity.
AI agents make governance more urgent, not less. An agent that reads customer records or raises payments needs its own identity and access to only the data its task needs. It also needs an audit trail your auditors can test. Our agent governance controls build on the classification and access rules set out here.
Every organisation that handles personal data (GDPR applies to all UK businesses). Companies subject to industry-specific regulations (financial services, healthcare, public sector). Organisations building data platforms that need to ensure data quality, access control, and lineage. Businesses pursuing or maintaining Cyber Essentials certification. Any organisation that needs to answer: “Where is our sensitive data, who has access, and how is it being used?”
An agent inside a finance or IT process needs the same controls as a person, and a few more. Data governance is where those controls start.
The client results below ran across the clients' own line-of-business applications with heavy integrations. Agents that reach many systems need tight identity and access controls in every one of them.
Every agent has its own identity in Microsoft Entra ID, so each action traces back to the agent that took it.
We use your classification and access rules to set which records an agent can read. Agents reach only the data their task needs.
The agent that raises a payment can never be the one that approves it. Finance teams keep sign-off on every exception.
Every agent action is logged in a form auditors can read, and the Change Advisory Board still decides every release.
Finance operations · PE-backed group
£32m
Annual savings
450+ FTE of capacity released
IT operations · PE-backed business
£7m
Added to annual EBITDA
70% Leaner IT organisation
Clients are anonymised at their request. See all results.
Automatically discover and classify sensitive data (personal data, financial data, health data) using built-in or custom classifiers with sensitivity labels applied consistently.
Trace data flow from source through transformations to reports and dashboards. Understand how data moves, where it is consumed, and how changes in upstream systems affect downstream analytics.
Enforce role-based access control, data loss prevention policies, and conditional access rules that prevent unauthorised sharing of sensitive data.
Manage GDPR, Cyber Essentials, and industry-specific compliance with risk assessments, policy templates, audit evidence collection, and compliance score tracking.
Microsoft Purview pricing depends on which capabilities you need and your existing Microsoft licensing. Many core features are included with M365 E3/E5 licences. Advanced data map scanning and lineage require additional governance capacity. Veriland Consulting helps you understand what you already have and what you need.
| Feature | Feature | Free / M365 Included | Purview Governance | Purview Compliance (E5) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Map (up to 1GB) | ||||
| Data Catalog (basic) | ||||
| Advanced Data Map Scanning | ||||
| Data Lineage | ||||
| Sensitivity Labels | ||||
| Data Loss Prevention | Basic | |||
| Information Protection | Basic | |||
| Insider Risk Management | ||||
| eDiscovery (Advanced) | ||||
| Compliance Manager | Basic | |||
| Starting Price | Included in M365 | ~£3/asset/month | Included in M365 E5 |
Prices are approximate. Many Purview features are included in existing M365 licences. Advanced data governance capabilities may require additional licensing. Contact Veriland for a tailored assessment.
Tip: If you have M365 E3 or E5 licences, you likely already have access to basic Purview capabilities including sensitivity labels, DLP policies, and compliance manager. Get a governance licensing assessment.
The data governance market includes several specialised players. Here is how Microsoft Purview compares, particularly for organisations already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.
| Feature | Capability | Microsoft Purview | Collibra | Alation | IBM Knowledge Catalog | BigID |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Data Classification | ||||||
| Data Lineage | ||||||
| Data Catalog | ||||||
| DLP & Information Protection | ||||||
| Native M365/D365 Integration | ||||||
| Native Azure Integration | ||||||
| Compliance Management | ||||||
| Sensitivity Labels | ||||||
| Included in M365 E5 |
Comparison based on publicly available feature information. Individual capabilities may vary by edition.
Audit your current data landscape, identify where sensitive data lives, assess compliance gaps, and document existing access controls and policies. Veriland uses automated scanning tools to accelerate discovery.
Define your data classification taxonomy (public, internal, confidential, restricted), configure automated classifiers, and apply sensitivity labels consistently across M365, D365, Azure, and Power BI.
Design and implement DLP policies, access control rules, retention policies, and information protection rules aligned with GDPR, Cyber Essentials, and your industry-specific requirements.
Deploy monitoring dashboards, compliance score tracking, alert rules for policy violations, and regular governance review cadences to ensure ongoing compliance.
Data governance is not a one-time project — it is an ongoing programme. Veriland establishes the framework, tools, and processes your team needs to maintain governance as your data estate evolves. Book a Governance Assessment.
Microsoft Purview integrates natively across the entire Microsoft ecosystem and supports scanning of third-party data sources. This gives you a unified governance view regardless of where your data lives.
Data governance requirements vary significantly by industry. Here are common governance scenarios by sector.
Regulatory compliance (FCA, PRA), transaction data governance, risk data lineage, and automated audit evidence collection.
GDPR compliance for citizen data, FOI request support, data classification across departments, and access control for sensitive records.
Asset data governance, operational data classification, environmental compliance reporting, and safety data protection.
Veriland Consulting takes a structured, risk-based approach to data governance that balances compliance requirements with business productivity.
Audit your data landscape, identify sensitive data locations, assess compliance gaps, and benchmark your governance maturity against industry standards.
Define your classification taxonomy, DLP policies, access control rules, and compliance requirements. Design the Purview configuration to match your governance framework.
Configure Purview, deploy sensitivity labels, enable automated scanning, and train your compliance, IT, and data teams on governance tools and processes.
Monitor compliance scores, respond to policy violations, review and refine governance policies, and adapt to new regulatory requirements as they emerge.
Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance, risk, and compliance platform. It helps organisations discover, classify, and protect sensitive data across M365, Azure, D365, and third-party sources. It includes data mapping, cataloguing, lineage tracking, DLP, information protection, and compliance management.
Many Purview features are included with M365 E3 and E5 licences, including sensitivity labels, basic DLP, and compliance manager. Advanced data governance capabilities (extended data map scanning, lineage) require additional licensing at approximately £3 per asset per month. Veriland can assess your existing entitlements.
Yes. Purview provides automated discovery and classification of personal data, DLP policies to prevent unauthorised sharing, data subject request tools, retention policies, and compliance score tracking against GDPR requirements. Veriland configures Purview specifically for UK GDPR compliance.
Data classification is the process of categorising data based on its sensitivity level (e.g., public, internal, confidential, restricted). Purview uses built-in classifiers (e.g., National Insurance numbers, credit card numbers) and custom classifiers to automatically identify and label sensitive data across your estate.
Data lineage tracks the flow of data from its source through transformations to its final destination. In Purview, you can trace how data moves from SQL Server through Azure Data Factory pipelines to a Power BI report, understanding every transformation and who has access at each stage.
Yes. Purview supports scanning of third-party data sources including AWS S3, Google BigQuery, Oracle, PostgreSQL, SAP, and many others. This enables a unified governance view across your entire data estate, not just Microsoft systems.
Purview supports several Cyber Essentials requirements including access control management, security configuration, and data protection. While Purview alone does not guarantee certification, it provides evidence and controls that support the audit process. Veriland can advise on the full Cyber Essentials journey.
A foundational governance implementation (data map, basic classification, sensitivity labels, DLP policies) typically takes 6 to 10 weeks. A comprehensive governance programme with full data catalogue, lineage, compliance management, and advanced policies may take 3 to 6 months.
A sensitivity label is a tag applied to documents, emails, or data that defines its protection level. Labels can trigger encryption, watermarking, access restrictions, and DLP rules. They persist with the data wherever it moves — inside or outside your organisation.
The best starting point is a Governance Assessment where Veriland audits your data landscape, identifies sensitive data locations, assesses compliance gaps, and designs a governance framework tailored to your regulatory and business requirements.
Wessex Searches transformed conveyancing with a new D365 Commerce ordering platform — automating search fulfilment, customer communications, and back-office operations across six data providers.
Veriland built a production property search platform for a UK water utility processing 4,000+ orders per month — then rebuilt it from scratch as VeriConvey, an AI-native SaaS product bringing agentic automation to the entire UK conveyancing industry.
Abel & Cole upgraded from Dynamics AX 2012 to D365 Finance & Operations in 15 working days under Veriland's fixed-scope delivery model — one of the fastest ERP upgrades at this scale.
Book a free Governance Assessment to discover where your sensitive data lives, identify compliance gaps, and design a data governance framework.
Or call us directly: 01625 569 777
