Last month, we announced the launch of the MANTA - Prolifics Microsoft Purview Connector as part of our expanding global partnership with Prolifics. Now, we’re here to take a deeper look into the value of the Connector and how it works on a technical level. 

Learn about our partnership

Addressing Gaps When Moving Data into Purview

Gartner forecast that end-user spending on public cloud services will total $591.8 billion in 2023, a noteworthy 20.7% increase from 2022. With that in mind, it’s not surprising that a growing number of companies are choosing to adopt Microsoft Azure, Microsoft’s public cloud computing platform. 

As part of its services, Microsoft also offers Purview, a unified data governance solution that helps manage and govern on-premises, multi-cloud, and Software as a Service (SaaS) data. With Microsoft Purview, organizations can create an up-to-data map of their data landscape to enable governance initiatives and data trust. 

Despite Purview’s strength as a governance solution, moving data from multiple complex systems into Purview may result in gaps in the data landscape.

Why is this? Simply put, Purview is not able to connect directly with all the systems that many sites have on-premises or on their mainframes. If reports are coming from other sources – such as on-premises software –  and Purview is unable to extract that data, metadata can become stuck in silos. This prevents you from being able to see all your lineage in the same place, meaning you can’t unlock the full value of your metadata. 

That gap is what the new MANTA-Prolifics Purview Connector solves. With the Connector, you can now achieve the full benefits of Purview adoption. 

The Power of the MANTA-Prolifics Purview Connector

Let’s walk through the workflow below to better understand how the Connector works. In this example:



  • MANTA extracts metadata from sources on the left (in this case, an on-premises SQL Server / SSIS database). Note: sources will be expanded in the future, and MANTA’s many out-of-the-box connectors span Purview’s potential sources.
  • MANTA analyzes metadata, builds lineage relationships, then exports that information to flat files. 
  • The Prolifics connector reorganizes MANTA’s metadata and presents it to Purview to load. 
  • The connector has a control script orchestrating the work – environmental scripts contain location and access information for MANTA and Purview; Python translates MANTA input to Purview output; log files record progress and errors.

In short, the MANTA-Prolifics connector serves as a method to gather information that would otherwise be missing, translate it into a detailed view, and deliver it through Purview so that you don’t need to use multiple access points to review it. 

“The connector summarizes lineage then pushes it into Purview. Prolifics puts in a hyperlink that will take you from summary-level lineage to detailed lineage when you need it. For the highly technical individual, Purview can be an entry point for your research,” explained Ernie Ostic, SVP of Products at MANTA.

It’s important to note that this isn’t a one-and-done solution. The Purview connector should be run as often as new data lineage scans are conducted. Doing this results in an ever-enriching set of data from MANTA. 

Additionally, with the ability to incorporate assets from not just Microsoft Azure offerings, but an array of technologies including ETL tools, databases, and reporting systems, you gain the ability to complete end-to-end governance initiatives. 

MANTA for Enterprise-Wide Governance 

The MANTA - Prolifics Purview Connector isn’t the only way MANTA can help your business with data governance. MANTA’s numerous scanners and integrations enable you to have an enterprise-wide view of your data, regardless of your data catalog. That means you won’t miss something stuck in a silo. 

Ready to learn more? Read more about our partnership with Prolifics here.

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