Data Governance with Microsoft Purview Implemented at CETIN by Adastra
From pilot deployment to measurable business impact
systems in CETIN’s IT environment
tables automatically cataloged in Microsoft Purview
Challenge
Implement data governance in an environment with a high proportion of legacy systems without paralyzing complexity
CETIN’s goal was not to create a theoretical model of data governance across the entire company. Such an approach would have required a multi-year program with uncertain added value.
Instead, the key objectives were to:
- Gain visibility into the data CETIN actually uses for reporting and decision-making
- Align the meaning of key business terms
- Increase transparency of data flows without massive manual documentation
- Verify that data governance can be implemented and sustained in such a complex environment
Solution
Microsoft Purview as a controlled data governance pilot
After evaluating available options, CETIN selected Microsoft Purview as the foundation for its data governance framework, with the possibility of gradual expansion. The key decision factors were the balance between cost and functionality and the native integration with Azure, where the data warehouse is hosted.
Adastra deployed Microsoft Purview as a controlled pilot within the BI domain and integrated it into CETIN’s existing IT infrastructure in line with the company’s security and operational standards.
As part of the MVP (Minimum Viable Product), automated scans were configured for key cloud and on-premises data sources connected to the data warehouse. Today, Purview automatically catalogs approximately 8,000 tables, including their structure and relationships to the analytical layer.
The project also included methodological support for the BI team, enabling them to systematically document Power BI reports and manage them as data products designed for long-term use.
Business glossary and data stewards: A shared language for data across BI
A key benefit of this solution is the standardization of data meanings. CETIN appointed selected domain experts as data stewards, who created a business glossary in Microsoft Purview for their respective areas.
This resulted in a unified definition of key concepts such as services, orders, or KPIs, which had previously been interpreted differently across teams. This eliminated recurring misunderstandings in the reporting of results and provided a consistent semantic foundation for analytics.
Data Lineage: Transparent data origin without mapping the entire organization
CETIN deliberately avoided attempting to map all data flows across the organization. Instead, the focus was placed on critical domains and key reports.
For supported data sources, Microsoft Purview provides column-level data lineage, showing where data originates, which transformations it goes through, and how it ultimately appears in the final reports.
However, Azure Synapse is not used within CETIN in a way that allows Purview to automatically extract lineage information. Therefore, within the available project capacity, Adastra prepared a prototype for extracting lineage from metadata of DWH transformation definitions.
Impact
Practical data governance with real impact
With Microsoft Purview implemented, CETIN now has:
- A functional data governance foundation integrated into its IT environment
- An automated data catalog without extensive manual documentation
- A unified interpretation of key business concepts through the business glossary
- Visibility into the origin and transformations of data used in key BI reports
- A BI team capable of managing reports as data products and supporting self-service data discovery for business users
Microsoft Purview has become a practical tool for everyday data work, not another isolated system. It provides a solid foundation for further expanding data governance and supports CETIN’s ambition to move decision-making increasingly toward data-driven practices.
