AZ-900 Microsoft Azure Fundamentals Exam

Understand the Core Functions of Microsoft Purview

Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance solution in Azure that helps organizations manage and protect their data. It provides a centralized platform to discover, catalog, and track data across various sources. By using Purview, businesses gain visibility into where their data is stored and how it is used, which supports better decision-making and reduces the risk of data breaches. Purview integrates seamlessly with other Azure services to create a comprehensive governance framework.

One of the key features of Purview is data discovery and classification. It automatically scans on-premises and cloud data sources to build a data catalog. Purview then applies built-in and custom classification rules to label sensitive information. The automated scanning covers databases, file systems, and SaaS applications, while the rich classification tags data like personal identifiers or financial records. The searchable catalog allows users to find and understand data assets quickly.

Another core function is data lineage tracking, which shows how data flows through systems over time. Purview captures each step of a data pipeline, from ingestion to transformation and consumption. This lineage view offers end-to-end transparency, helping teams identify original data sources and any changes made along the way. It also helps understand the impact of modifications or schema updates on downstream reports and troubleshoots data quality issues by tracing errors back to their source.

Purview also supports compliance and policy enforcement across an organization's data estate. It lets administrators define data policies that automatically apply governance rules. These policies help ensure that sensitive data is handled according to regulations like GDPR or HIPAA, that access controls and data retention rules are consistently enforced, and that audit reports and dashboards are available for compliance reviews.

Examine Data Cataloging and Classification

Data cataloging in Microsoft Purview involves creating a detailed inventory of data assets. This process helps organizations keep track of their data, making it easier to locate and use. By cataloging data, users can quickly find the information they need, which enhances productivity and decision-making. The cataloging process also supports data discovery, allowing users to search for data assets using various criteria.

Data classification is another key feature of Microsoft Purview. It involves categorizing data based on its sensitivity and importance. This process helps organizations apply appropriate security measures and compliance policies to protect sensitive information. By classifying data, organizations can ensure that they meet regulatory requirements and protect their data from unauthorized access.

The benefits of using Microsoft Purview for data cataloging and classification include improved data management by organizing data assets, enhanced compliance through classification that ensures organizations adhere to regulatory standards, and efficient data discovery so users can easily find and access the data they need. These capabilities are vital for effective data governance in Azure.

Analyze Data Lineage and Impact Analysis

Data lineage is the process of tracking how data moves and transforms from source to destination, while impact analysis assesses how changes to data can affect downstream processes. Understanding lineage and impact analysis is critical for compliance, auditing, and ensuring data quality.

Connecting Azure Synapse and Azure Data Factory to Microsoft Purview allows automatic capturing of lineage information. To set this up, you must grant the Microsoft Purview Data Curator role to the workspace's managed identity and ensure the integration runtime can reach the Purview account, especially if a firewall is enabled. You should validate role assignments and network access if the status shows as Disconnected or Unknown.

Once connected, pipeline executions in Azure Synapse and Data Factory report lineage details to Purview. The supported activities include Copy, Data Flow, and Execute SSIS Package. During execution, lineage data is automatically captured, and you can monitor the reporting status in the pipeline's monitoring view or in the activity output JSON under the reportLineageToPurview section.

On the Microsoft Purview portal, you can discover and explore lineage information by browsing assets of type Azure Data Factory or Azure Synapse. The Purview search bar lets you find datasets or activities and view their lineage graphs. This visibility helps you quickly see upstream sources, downstream targets, and transformations, making it easier to understand data dependencies.

By analyzing data lineage in Microsoft Purview, you can perform effective impact analysis. When you plan to change or remove data, you can trace all affected processes and stakeholders, reducing the risk of unexpected issues. This approach supports better decision-making, improves data integrity, and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements.

Explore Integration with Other Azure Services

Microsoft Purview is a unified data governance solution that enables organizations to discover, classify, and manage their data assets. It provides a centralized data catalog that helps teams understand where data lives and how it is being used. By automatically scanning data sources, Purview collects metadata and applies classification labels to ensure compliance. It also offers data lineage to trace the flow of information across different systems.

Purview integrates seamlessly with Azure Synapse Analytics to extend its governance capabilities into big data and analytics workflows. By registering Synapse workspaces as data sources, Purview can scan and catalog SQL pools and serverless SQL endpoints, Spark tables and linked services, and notebooks and pipelines. This integration provides end-to-end lineage of analytical processes, making it easy to see how data transforms from raw ingestion to final reporting.

Integration with Azure Data Factory allows Purview to capture metadata and lineage from ETL pipelines and data movement activities. ADF pipelines can be automatically registered in Purview, where key elements such as activities, datasets, and linked services are cataloged. Purview's lineage view highlights data ingestion paths, transformation steps, and data destinations. This integration ensures consistency and transparency for data workflows, helping teams troubleshoot issues and maintain compliance across all stages of data processing.

Beyond Synapse and Data Factory, Purview connects with a wide range of Azure services to build a comprehensive governance solution. Key integrations include Azure Data Lake Storage Gen2 for file system insights, Azure SQL Database and Azure Cosmos DB for relational and NoSQL metadata, and Power BI for cataloging reporting artifacts. Through these integrations, Purview offers a holistic view of data assets, enforces policies across services, and strengthens data security and compliance throughout the Azure ecosystem.

Evaluate Compliance and Risk Management Features

Microsoft Purview aids in maintaining regulatory compliance by providing tools for data policy enforcement, risk management, and audit readiness. It helps ensure adherence to data protection regulations through its comprehensive governance framework.

Azure offers robust tools to help organizations maintain compliance and manage security risks. Two key services are Privileged Identity Management and the Permissions Management Remediation dashboard. Privileged Identity Management simplifies management of privileged roles in Microsoft Entra ID and related services. The Remediation dashboard provides a centralized view of roles and permissions across cloud environments. Together, these features enhance audit readiness and support regulatory requirements.

Privileged Identity Management enables regular access reviews to confirm whether users still need specific roles. Administrators receive notifications or can navigate to Microsoft Entra admin center to start a review. Reviewers choose Approve or Deny based on current job needs, and results only apply after the review closes. Some common scenarios where changes cannot apply include synced on-premises groups that cannot be managed in Entra ID, nested group memberships that retain access, and errors such as missing user accounts.

The Remediation dashboard in Permissions Management helps administrators view, adjust, and export roles and permissions information. Key subtabs include Roles/Policies for creating, modifying, or deleting roles and policies, Permissions for filtering and managing granted permissions, Requests and My Requests for tracking Permission on Demand workflows, and Settings for configuring request filters and auto-approval rules.

By using these compliance and risk management features, organizations can enforce data policies, identify excessive privileges, and automate reporting. The ability to export CSV reports and apply filters ensures audit trails are complete and accessible. These features support risk management by allowing administrators to quickly remediate risky access and maintain alignment with regulatory standards.