What Is Microsoft Compliance Manager and How Does It Work
Microsoft Compliance Manager is part of Microsoft Purview. This tool helps make compliance management easier. It works with many cloud systems. It connects with Microsoft 365. It also supports many rules from around the world. Some important features are automated assessments and a compliance score. It has dashboards and ready-to-use templates. Companies use Microsoft Compliance Manager to watch and handle their compliance tasks.
Key Takeaways
Microsoft Compliance Manager makes compliance easier. It does this by checking rules and tracking jobs for many cloud services.
The compliance score lets groups see how well they follow rules. It helps them pick what to fix first.
Users can give jobs to others, add proof, and check progress in one spot. This helps teams work together and stay organized.
Ready-made templates cover more than 360 rules around the world. These help companies start checks faster and keep up with changes.
Role-based access controls protect compliance data. They only let users do what they need to do.
Microsoft Compliance Manager Features
Compliance Assessments
Microsoft Compliance Manager gives automated compliance assessments. These help organizations see how they are doing with many rules. The tool uses ready-to-use templates for over 360 regulations, including ones for AI. Organizations can sort assessments by rule, service, or product. This helps them see their compliance status in cloud services like Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS, and GCP. Connectors let them add other services like Salesforce and Zoom. This makes it easier to gather data and check compliance. Dashboards show if controls are Passed, Failed, or In Progress. They also show progress with charts. Automated assessments scan hundreds of actions and give advice in 24 hours. This cuts down on manual work. The system tracks improvement actions by itself. This helps organizations focus on what is most important.
Tip: Automated assessments save time and stop repeated work. They match improvement actions to many regulations.
Compliance Score
The compliance score in Microsoft Compliance Manager shows organizations their overall compliance quickly. The score comes from improvement actions. These are sorted by type, like Microsoft-managed, technical user-managed, and nontechnical group-managed actions. The first score uses the Microsoft 365 data protection baseline. This includes controls from standards like NIST CSF, ISO, FedRAMP, and GDPR. Each action gets points based on how important it is and its risk type. Risk types include mandatory or discretionary, and whether it is preventative, detective, or corrective. For services with Microsoft Defender for Cloud, scores are averaged across subscriptions. This scoring system helps organizations know which actions to do first. It also helps them see their risk for different rules.
Evidence Management
Evidence management in Microsoft Compliance Manager is special. It lets organizations keep evidence, notes, and updates inside improvement actions. This puts all compliance work in one place. It makes tracking progress easier. Users can give improvement actions to certain people to do and test. The tool gives step-by-step help for each action. This helps organizations meet standards more easily. Microsoft Compliance Manager supports different control types. These include Microsoft-managed, customer-managed, and shared controls. This makes evidence management better. The risk-based compliance score helps organizations focus on actions that matter most.
Keep evidence and notes inside improvement actions
Give actions to users for workflow
Get step-by-step help for each action
Use different control types in assessments
Regulatory Templates
Microsoft Compliance Manager has many pre-built regulatory templates. These templates are in two groups: included templates and premium templates. Included templates come with the Compliance Manager license. They cover important rules like the Microsoft Data Protection Baseline. Premium templates cost extra. They cover over 300 rules and standards from around the world. These include national, regional, and industry rules. Examples are Canada Cybersecure and British Columbia FOIPPA. These templates help organizations meet tough compliance needs. They turn rules into simple language and link them to recommended actions. Custom templates and updates help organizations keep up with changes.
Note: Pre-built templates help organizations start assessments faster. They also help them keep up with new rules.
How It Works
Setup and Access
You start using Microsoft Compliance Manager in the Microsoft Purview portal. Administrators follow steps to set it up. First, sign in with an admin account. Next, pick Compliance Manager from the menu to open the dashboard. Then, set user permissions and assign roles with RBAC. This makes sure only the right people see important compliance data. After that, click the Settings icon and choose Compliance Manager. Here, you can turn on automated testing and manage user access. You can also add connectors for other services. If you want, you can try premium assessment trials. You can also manage alerts, reports, and policies here. Always follow security best practices. Only a few users should have Global Administrator roles.
User roles help control who can do what in the tool. The table below shows the main roles and their jobs:
By default, anyone with an Office 365, Dynamics 365, or Azure account can use Compliance Manager. When you assign roles, only those users can make changes. This keeps important information safe. It also makes sure only the right people can change things.
Tip: Give roles carefully. This keeps compliance data safe and stops extra access.
Running Assessments
To run a compliance assessment, follow these steps. Go to the Regulations page in Compliance Manager. Pick the rule you want and copy it to make a draft. On the Controls tab, add new controls if you need them. Each control gets its own ID and description. Link improvement actions to each control. You can import actions or make new ones. Give each action a title, score, and service link. Add services to the copied rule by picking from the list or making new ones. When you finish, publish the rule. Its status changes from Draft to Ready. Now you can use it to make and run compliance assessments.
This process lets organizations make assessments that fit their needs. They can focus on certain rules and services. This makes compliance checks work better.
Assigning Tasks
Microsoft Compliance Manager lets you give tasks to team members. You can assign improvement actions to users. Each task tracks progress with status updates. It also stores evidence and notes. This helps everyone know what is happening.
The tool sends alerts to users. They get messages about task changes, new evidence, or score updates. Role-based access controls make sure only the right people can see or change tasks. This keeps important data safe and helps with clear task assignments.
Teamwork gets better when tasks are tracked in one place. Shared workspaces and chat tools help teams talk about compliance and fix problems together.
Monitoring Progress
Watching progress is very important in compliance management. Microsoft Compliance Manager has dashboards that show all improvement actions. Users can see which tasks are done, in progress, or late. Charts and pictures make it easy to spot problems.
Alerts and messages keep teams updated on changes. Managers can check evidence, see if tasks are done, and watch the compliance score. This real-time view helps organizations reach their compliance goals.
Note: Checking progress often helps organizations react fast to risks and keep strong compliance.
Getting Started with Microsoft Compliance Manager
Accessing the Portal
New users first sign in to the Microsoft Purview portal. They find Compliance Manager by clicking the Settings icon. On the settings page, they pick Connectors and choose the one they need. The setup wizard helps them accept terms, name the connector, and enter credentials. After checking the connection, users review and finish the setup. When it is ready, they go to the Assessments page to add a new assessment. They pick the regulation and services linked to the connector. Then, they manage service instances. This helps organizations use Microsoft Compliance Manager with the right connections.
Tip: The Microsoft Service Trust Portal gives more resources. It has official documentation and details about compliance programs.
Choosing Regulations
Microsoft Compliance Manager has over 360 regulatory templates. Users pick assessments that fit their organization’s needs. The menu makes it easy to choose important regulations like NIST CSF or GDPR. The tool gives a default compliance score using well-known frameworks. It shows key improvement actions that change the score. Users can change the status of actions or mark some as out of scope. This helps organizations focus on what matters most.
Assigning Actions
Users give compliance actions from the Assessments or Improvement actions page. They export actions to an Excel file and check the instructions. They update the Action Update tab to assign tasks or change statuses. After saving, users upload the file back into Compliance Manager with the update wizard. The wizard checks for mistakes and shows a summary of updates. This lets users assign many tasks at once and keeps compliance work organized.
Reviewing Recommendations
A dashboard in the portal shows all compliance activities. The dashboard breaks big frameworks into smaller improvement tasks. Users assign these tasks, set deadlines, and track progress. The system sends alerts about changes in actions, scores, or evidence. These alerts help teams act fast and stay on track. Users upload evidence to show compliance and get ready for audits. The real-time compliance score shows progress and points out areas that need work.
Note: Training paths and resources like the MS-900 Introduction to Microsoft 365 help users learn about compliance management. Community resources and the Service Trust Portal give ongoing support.
Collaboration and Reporting
Task Management
Teams use one dashboard to work on compliance tasks. The dashboard lists all tasks and shows their progress. Each person can see what to do and who is in charge. The dashboard helps teams spot risks early and share updates. Everyone can add notes and upload evidence for each task. This makes it simple to track changes and keep records together. Teams use the dashboard to manage jobs and talk about compliance issues.
Centralized dashboards help teams work together and keep compliance tasks organized.
Dashboards and Alerts
Dashboards show the compliance score and highlight key actions. They display rules, assessments, and alerts that change the score. Teams see points earned and controls managed by Microsoft. Dashboards help leaders find gaps and fix problems fast. Alerts tell users about changes in scores, tasks, and document updates. These alerts show up on the home page and alert pages, sorted by how serious they are. Some alerts come from policy matches and show details like status, severity, and time found. Teams get email alerts for urgent problems. Alerts cover many compliance issues, like sharing private information or breaking rules. Teams can fix alerts, tag messages, or send issues for review.
Dashboards show compliance status and improvement actions.
Teams can act fast to fix problems.
Permissions
Permission management controls who can see and change compliance data. Administrators give roles to users for each assessment or template. Roles are administrator, assessor, contributor, and reader. Each role has a different level of access. Scoped access lets organizations give permissions for certain tasks or rules. Audit logs record changes in settings and user roles. This helps organizations track who made changes and when. Permission management keeps private data safe and makes sure only the right people can update things.
Careful permission management protects compliance data and supports teamwork.
Organizations make compliance easier by using automation for testing and tracking. Central dashboards take the place of old spreadsheets. Pre-built assessments update when rules change. Teams get clear jobs, easy steps, and see risks right away. The table below shows the main changes:
Teams can start by checking their compliance score, giving out improvement actions, and using automated testing to watch progress.
FAQ
What is the main purpose of Microsoft Compliance Manager?
Microsoft Compliance Manager helps companies follow rules. It checks if they meet regulations. It gives automatic tests and tracks tasks. It shows a score for compliance. This tool makes following rules easier. It also helps people do less manual work.
What types of regulations does Microsoft Compliance Manager support?
Microsoft Compliance Manager works with over 360 rules. These rules are from all over the world. They include GDPR, NIST CSF, ISO, and more. Companies pick templates that fit their needs.
What does the compliance score show?
The compliance score tells how well a company follows rules. The score changes when users finish tasks. Teams use the score to see progress. It helps them find what needs more work.
What evidence can users upload in Compliance Manager?
Users can upload files, pictures, and notes as proof. This proof shows tasks are done. It helps during audits. The tool keeps all proof together in one place.
What are the main user roles in Microsoft Compliance Manager?
Each role has special permissions to keep data safe.