Avepoint
AvePoint vs. Microsoft Purview: Better Together for Complete Data Protection and Governance
21st August 20225
Full Article: AvePoint vs. Microsoft Purview: Better Together for Complete Data Protection and Governance | AvePoint
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Microsoft Purview’s Role
Purview provides strong data security and compliance at the file and activity level. It helps classify and label data, encrypt files, enforce compliance policies, detect insider risks, and monitor activity across Microsoft 365. In short, it shows you what your sensitive data is and how it’s being accessed. -
Where AvePoint Fits
Purview protects data at the point of use, but doesn’t manage the sprawl of collaboration. AvePoint adds governance and lifecycle management across Teams, SharePoint, Groups, and other workspaces. It ensures policies are applied consistently over time, owners and access are maintained, and inactive or risky resources are cleaned up automatically.
Link to the learn more above: The Hidden Risks of Copilot Studio Agents – and How to Govern Them Responsibly | AvePoint
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How They Work Together
Purview = data-level protection (visibility, classification, labeling, encryption).
AvePoint = environment-level governance (workspace control, lifecycle automation, configuration enforcement).
Combined, they secure not just files but the entire collaboration environment. -
Example
Purview might encrypt shared files and apply sensitivity labels, but AvePoint ensures the Team itself has the right owners, external users are offboarded when projects end, privacy settings remain correct, and labels stay enforced.
Where AvePoint and Purview Work Together:
| Functionality | Microsoft Purview | AvePoint |
| Sensitivity labels and encryption | ✅ Yes | 🔄 Enhances with classification and context |
| DLP and insider risk | ✅ Yes | ❌ Not a DLP engine |
| Workspace lifecycle management (Teams, Groups, Sites) |
❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Configuration drift remediation | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Metadata and tagging of unstructured content | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Rich, automated tagging |
| Delegated administration and scoped governance | ⚠️ Limited | ✅ Granular, scalable |
| Context-aware automation | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| End-user self-service provisioning | ❌ No | ✅ Yes, with guardrails |
| Unified insights into policy violations | ⚠️ Partial | ✅ Deep visibility across workloads and multi-cloud |
| Expiration of sharing links | ⚠️ Manual or inconsistent | ✅ Automated and policy-driven |
The Bottom Line: A Unified Governance Approach
If you're serious about protecting your Microsoft 365 environment, Microsoft Purview and AvePoint are not competitors; they complement each other.
Purview gives you the security and compliance backbone you need at the file, email, and device level.
AvePoint provides granular controls, automation, and operational governance to keep your collaboration environment healthy, sustainable, and secure over time, working hand-in-hand with Purview.
Together, they deliver a complete story — one that’s proactive, scalable, and built for the way collaboration happens today.
Ready to Go Beyond Policy?
AvePoint has been working alongside Microsoft for over 20 years to enhance and extend native Microsoft 365 capabilities and help organizations around the world manage and protect their collaboration data.
Let’s show you how AvePoint and Microsoft Purview can work better together in your environment.