Microsoft aims to help businesses get handle on data with new tool

Microsoft Corp on Thursday announced a new cloud-based tool designed to help corporate customers understand where data is scattered throughout their operations and whether they are in compliance with data privacy regulations. Once known for its Windows operating system and applications such as Office, Microsoft has built a large business in cloud computing, helping store and process huge amounts of data for corporate customers. But for large companies, stores of data have become so large, and distributed across so many countries, that Microsoft is rolling out a tool called Azure Purview to help companies better understand precisely what information they have and where it resides. In particular, the tool is designed to help data privacy and risk management officials ensure their companies are in compliance with rules such as the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation, John “JG” Chirapurath, vice president of Azure data, artificial intelligence and edge, told Reuters in an interview.