Disclaimer: This is work in progress intended to consolidate information from various sources for learning purposes. For the latest information please consult the documentation (see the links below)!
Last updated: 23-May-2024
[Microsoft Fabric] Data Governance
- {definition}set of capabilities that help organizations to manage, protect, monitor, and improve the discoverability of data, so as to meet data governance (and compliance) requirements and regulations [2]
- several built-in governance features are available to manage and control the data within Fabric (MF) [1]
- {feature} endorsement [aka content endorsement]
- {definition} formal process performed by admins to endorse MF items
- {benefit} allows admins to designate specific MF items as trusted and approved for use across the organization [1]
- establishes trust in data assets by promoting and certifying specific MF items [1]
- users know which assets they can trust and rely on for accurate information [1]
- endorsed assets are identified with a badge that indicates they have been reviewed and approved [1]
- {scope} applies to all MF items except dashboards [1]
- {benefit} helps admin manage the overall growth of items across your environment [1]
- {feature} promoting [aka content promoting]
- {definition} formal process performed by contributors or admins to promote content
- promoted content appears with a Promoted badge in the MF portal [1]
- workspace members with the contributor or admin role can promote content within a workspace [1]
- MF admin can promote content across the organization [1]
- {feature} certification [aka content certification]
- {definition} formal process that involves a review of the content by a designated reviewer and managed by the admin [1]
- can be customized to meet organization’s needs [1]
- users can request item certification from an admin [1]
- via Request certification from the More menu [1]
- the certified content appears with a Certified badge in the Fabric portal [1]
- {benefit} allows organizations to label items considered to be quality items [1]
- an organization can certify items to identify them an as authoritative sources for critical information [1]
- ⇐ all Fabric items except Power BI dashboards can be certified [1]
- {benefit} allows to specify certifiers who are experts in the domain [1]
- domain level settings
- enable or disable certification of items that belong to the domain [1]
- provides a URL to documentation that is relevant to certification in the domain [1]
- {feature} tenant (aka Microsoft Fabric tenant, MF tenant)
- a single instance of Fabric for an organization that is aligned with a Microsoft Entra ID
- can contain any number of workspaces
- {feature} workspaces
- {definition} a collection of items that brings together different functionality in a single environment designed for collaboration
- can be assigned to teams or departments based on governance requirements and data boundaries [2]
- are associated with domains [3]
- ⇐ {benefit} allows to group data into business domains
- all the items in the workspace are then associated with the domain, and they receive a domain attribute as part of their metadata [3]
- ⇐ {benefit} enables a better consumption experience [1]
- {benefit} enables better discoverability and governance [2]
- {feature} domains [Notes]
- {definition} a way of logically grouping together data in an organization that is relevant to a particular area or field [1]
- allows to group data by business domains
- ⇒{benefit} allows business domains to manage their data according to their specific regulations, restrictions, and needs [3]
- {feature} subdomains
- {definition} a way for fine tuning the logical grouping data under a domain [1]
- ⇐ subdivisions of a domain
- {feature} labeling
- default labeling, label inheritance, and programmatic labeling,
- {benefit} help achieve maximal sensitivity label coverage across MF [2]
- once labeled, data remains protected even when it's exported out of MF via supported export paths [2]
- [Purview Audit] compliance admins can monitor activities on sensitivity labels
- {feature|preview} folders
- {definition} a way of logically grouping MF items
- {feature|preview} tags
- {benefit} allow managing Fabric items for enhanced compliance, discoverability, and reuse
- {feature} scanner API
- a set of admin REST APIs
- {benefit} allows to scan MF items for sensitive data [1]
- can be used to scan both structured and unstructured data [1]
- {concept} metadata scanning
- facilitates governance of data by enabling cataloging and reporting on all the metadata of organization's Fabric items [1]
- it needs to be set up by Admin before metadata scanning can be run [1]
- {concept} data lineage
- {definition}
- {benefit} allows to track the flow of data through Fabric [1]
- {benefit} allows to see where data comes from, how it's transformed, and where it goes [1]
- {benefit} helps understand the data available in Fabric, and how it's being used [1]
- {concept} Fabric item (aka MF item)
- {definition} a set of capabilities within an experience
- form the building blocks of the Fabric platform
- {type} data warehouse
- {type} data pipeline
- {type} semantic model
- {type} reports
- {type} dashboards
- {type} notebook
- {type} lakehouse
- {type} metric set
Acronyms:
API - Application Programming Interface
MF - Microsoft Fabric
Resources:
[1] Microsoft Learn (2023) Administer Microsoft Fabric (link)
[2] Microsoft Learn - Fabric (2024) Governance overview and guidance (link)
[3] Microsoft Learn: Fabric (2023) Fabric domains (link)
[4] Establishing Data Mesh architectural pattern with Domains and OneLake on Microsoft Fabric, by Maheswaran Arunachalam (link)
