Last Updated on February 14, 2024 Sarah Gayda
All you need to know about governance in M365, plus how Colligo takes your governance practice to the next level
Microsoft 365 is a powerful suite of tools that can help your organization increase productivity, collaboration, and efficiency. However, with great power comes great responsibility. It’s crucial to have proper governance in place, ensuring compliance and information security.
In this article, we’ll explore the essentials of Microsoft 365 governance and how you can master them to effectively manage your organization’s data.
Why Is Microsoft 365 Governance Important?
Microsoft 365 governance refers to the policies, procedures, and controls put in place to manage and protect your organization’s data within the Microsoft 365 environment. It ensures that your business data is secure, compliant, and accessible to the right people at the right time.
Policy Enforcement for Data Security
To protect your organization’s data, it is crucial to establish strong rules. This is necessary because of the increasing cyber threats and data breaches. Microsoft 365 governance allows you to enforce policies such as data loss prevention, access controls, and encryption to ensure the security of your data.
Compliance with Regulations
Many industries have strict regulations regarding the handling and storage of sensitive data. Microsoft 365 governance allows you to enforce compliance with these regulations to avoid costly fines and penalties. For example, your business may need to comply with HIPAA and GDPR.
Efficient Information Governance
Information governance refers to the management of data throughout its lifecycle, from creation to deletion. With Microsoft 365 governance, you can establish policies for data retention, archiving, and disposal. This ensures that you manage your business data efficiently and effectively.
How to Master Microsoft 365 Governance Essentials
Now that we understand the importance of Microsoft 365 governance, let’s explore the essential elements and how you can master them.
Establish Clear Policies and Procedures
The first step in mastering Microsoft 365 governance is to establish clear policies and procedures for data management. To start, define who has access to what data, how data should be stored and shared, and what actions are allowed or restricted.
It’s crucial to involve key stakeholders from different departments in the development of these policies. Doing so ensures you create a governance plan that aligns with the business goals of your company.
Utilize Microsoft 365 Security Features
Microsoft 365 offers a range of security features that can help you enforce your policies and protect your organization’s data. These include data loss prevention, access controls, and encryption.
By using these features, you can ensure that your organization’s data is secure and only accessible to authorized individuals.
Train and Educate Employees
One of the most critical aspects of Microsoft 365 governance is employee training and education. It’s essential to ensure that all employees are aware of the policies and procedures in place and understand their role in maintaining data security and compliance.
Regular training and updates can help employees stay informed and accountable for their actions.
Monitor and Audit Data Usage
To ensure your team follows policies and procedures, it’s crucial to monitor and audit data usage within the Microsoft 365 environment. This can help identify any potential security risks or compliance issues and allow you to fix them.
As a result, Microsoft 365 offers built-in auditing and reporting tools that can help you track data usage. Further, they help identify any anomalies or unauthorized access.
Consider Microsoft Purview
Microsoft Purview is a data governance solution that helps organizations discover, understand, and manage data. It provides a unified view of data across various sources, both on-premises and in the cloud, letting you to gain insights.
Here’s why and when you may need Microsoft Purview for information governance:
- Data Discovery: Microsoft Purview helps you find and organize data from various sources like databases, file systems, and cloud storage. It automatically scans and classifies data, making it easier to understand what data you have and where it resides.
- Data Lineage and Impact Analysis: With Microsoft Purview, you can trace your data’s path and see how it moves through various systems and processes. As a result, you can more easily identify dependencies and assess the impact of changes on your data ecosystem.
- Data Governance and Compliance: Microsoft Purview provides tools for data classification, data sensitivity labeling, and data access policies. These features help you enforce data governance and compliance with regulations such as GDPR and CCPA.
- Data Collaboration: Microsoft Purview enables collaboration among data stewards, data owners, and data consumers. It provides a centralized platform where stakeholders can collaborate on data governance initiatives. This ensures that everyone is aligned and working towards the same goals.
- Data Insights: By leveraging Microsoft Purview’s data catalog and metadata capabilities, you can gain valuable insights into your data. Also, you can identify data quality issues, understand data usage patterns, and make informed decisions based on reliable and accurate data.
Utilize Third-Party Tools like Colligo
Microsoft 365 has strong security and governance features. However, there are other tools that can improve your governance strategy. Tools like Colligo provide additional layers of security, compliance, and data management capabilities.
Colligo offers a range of features that can enhance your governance strategy and help you effectively manage and protect your business data. Here are some reasons why Colligo is a great choice:
- Email Records Management: Colligo allows you to seamlessly move your emails from Outlook to SharePoint with applied metadata and retention and sensitivity labels. This is not possible if you are only using M365 without Colligo. As email is a primary mode of communication for your business, it’s essential for you to include email governance in your governance plan.
- Compliance Management: Colligo offers compliance management capabilities that can help you enforce regulatory requirements and industry standards for documents. It allows you to enforce policies for data retention, archiving, and disposal, working alongside Microsoft 365. In addition, ensures that your organization remains compliant with relevant regulations such as HIPAA and GDPR.
- Simplified Data Management: Colligo simplifies data management within the Microsoft 365 environment. It provides intuitive interfaces and tools that make it easy for team members to store, organize, and retrieve data. This can help improve productivity and efficiency while ensuring you manage your data in a structured and organized manner. Our Content Manager for Teams product is especially powerful for ensuring Microsoft Teams governance.
- Integration with Microsoft 365: Colligo seamlessly integrates with Microsoft 365, allowing you to leverage the full power of both platforms. It provides seamless integration with Microsoft SharePoint, OneDrive, and Teams. This enables users to access and manage data directly from familiar interfaces. The integration also ensures a smooth user experience and maximizes the benefits of both Colligo and Microsoft 365.
- Enhanced Collaboration: Colligo promotes enhanced collaboration within the Microsoft 365 environment. It can help improve productivity and streamline workflows within your organization.
Get started with on mastering governance with Microsoft 365 & Colligo today
Microsoft 365 governance is crucial for the security and regulatory compliance of your organization’s data. By establishing clear policies and procedures, utilizing security features, training employees, and monitoring data usage, you can master Microsoft 365 governance and protect your business data effectively.
By involving key stakeholders and utilizing third-party tools like Colligo, you can enhance your governance strategy and ensure the success of your Microsoft 365 environment.
For more information on M365 governance best practices and how to get started, get in touch with us today. Or, start a free trial.
