Get complete data discovery across your entire ecosystem
Feeling locked in and not getting your complete data story? Be sure you do with Actian Data Intelligence.
Real Microsoft Purview users. Real frustrations.
Don’t just take our word for it. Here’s what real users are saying about their experiences with Microsoft Purview:
"Microsoft Purview GUI is god-awful. Retention Policy scope misleading … Purview sucks in general. It’s a pain in the ass to use and know if you’re properly gathering content, placing the correct holds, etc."
– Reddit User Review
"I reviewed pricing for Purview … Microsoft pricing in general is awful, but Purview pricing might be their worst."
– Reddit User Review
"I wanted to share some candid feedback … my experience with the platform has not met expectations … Fundamental features such as reliable email notifications for scan completions and failures are missing … basic operations … suffer from delays that make the tool extremely slow and difficult to use in a fast-paced environment."
– Microsoft Q&A Forum User
"I’m being told by my corporate eDiscovery team that Purview has resulted in wildly inaccurate hit counts over the past few months. Could this really be true?"
– Reddit User Review
"One major disadvantage of Microsoft Purview is that it is quite complex, and this may confuse people not used to working with data governance tools."
– InfoTech Research Group User Review
"Some users may find the initial setup and configuration of Microsoft Purview to be complex, especially if they have a diverse IT environment."
– G2 User
Actian vs. Microsoft Purview
Compare the difference between Microsoft Purview’s data governance tool and Actian’s active metadata platform and catalog.
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Federated knowledge graph & active metadata |
Actian’s Federated Knowledge Graph, along with the Model Context Protocol (MCP) Server, unifies metadata, lineage, and business context across distributed systems, creating a shared semantic layer that connects domains, tools, and AI assistants in real time. |
Purview does not offer a true federated knowledge graph or active metadata layer and instead relies on a central Microsoft-centric metadata store with limited cross-platform context. |
Data lineage |
Delivers automated, field-level Smart Lineage tracing data across your ecosystem via its Federated Knowledge Graph, providing cross-platform lineage and consistency across domains. |
Purview provides basic lineage for supported Microsoft services, but coverage is inconsistent across non-Microsoft sources and often lacks full column-level completeness. |
Speed of implementation & value time–to–insight |
Rapid setup with built–in connectors, automated metadata ingestion, and minimal manual overhead – you can be completely live in days. |
Purview deployments typically require lengthy configuration, dependency setup, and Microsoft ecosystem alignment, which can slow time to actionable insight. |
Dual user experience: Business + technical |
Dual interfaces tailored for both business users (data consumers/discovery) and technical users/stewards – enabling broad organizational adoption. |
Purview is mainly optimized for Azure administrators and lacks a cohesive dual experience that serves business stewards and technical users equally well. |
Cost, total cost of ownership (TCO) & maintenance |
Lower overhead: less manual stewardship, fewer implementation hurdles, more “built–in” automation – reducing long–term cost and burden. |
Purview’s pricing model can be unpredictable due to scanning, classification, and storage consumption, which increases long-term cost and administrative overhead. |
Modern architecture & future readiness (AI, data mesh, multi–cloud, active metadata) |
Modern architecture with an innovative, market-leading roadmap, backed by HCL Software. |
Purview is tightly bound to the Microsoft Azure stack and does not provide strong multi-cloud, data mesh, or open active metadata capabilities for future AI workloads. |
APIs and extensibility |
Actian exposes APIs for catalog, glossary, marketplace, and MCP interactions so external tools and agents can read and act on metadata, and positions itself as an MCP-first platform for extensibility. |
Unified Catalog APIs are currently in public preview and limited to GA features, with roadmap items for data asset and critical column APIs; some automation connectors and workflows are still maturing. |
Data observability |
Actian offers Data Observability, adding an additional layer of data review and anomaly detection that gives you additional trust and confidence. |
Purview offers data rules for quality, but not a complete observability offering. |
The Actian difference: Governance for the AI era
More reasons why you should consider choosing Actian over Microsoft Purview.
Federated knowledge graph
Delivers a powerful, Google–like search across all your business domains without sacrificing local data control and autonomy.
Metadata harvesting automation
Synchronizes your metadata automatically across cloud, on–premises, and hybrid environments, keeping an up–to–date view of your complete data landscape.
Graph-based business glossary
Maps critical relationships between policies, KPIs, and business terms, enhancing data literacy and bringing relevant context to AI initiatives.
Smart data lineage
Automatically visualizes end–to–end data flow across the ecosystem, enabling impact analysis, root cause tracing, and up–to–date documentation with no manual effort.
MCP Server
Actian’s new MCP Server connects AI agents directly to trusted enterprise data through its Federated Knowledge Graph, ensuring that every AI interaction is context–rich, governed, and grounded in a single, unified source of truth.
Data catalog and marketplace
Unify a data catalog with an e-commerce–style marketplace on a single platform, streamlining workflow for data producers and discovery for data consumers.
Ease of implementation and use
Purpose–built for high adoption with two unique interfaces: Studio for managing data assets and Explorer for data discovery, ensuring rapid time–to–value.
Data products and contracts
Integrates governance into your data using Data Contracts, allowing you to create trusted, ready–to–use data products that are automatically validated, accelerating data democratization.
Cloud-native design
Offers a scalable enterprise data marketplace that covers your entire data landscape – from hybrid to multi–cloud – while reducing risk and optimizing costs with a truly flexible SaaS solution.
