Data Asset, Information Asset, Dataset and Microsoft Purview Data Asset

Data Asset, Information Asset, Dataset and Microsoft Purview Data Asset are related concepts, but they are not synonyms.

Definitions and terminology guidance by Sasha Korniak, Data SkyLab Studio.

Data Asset

A Data Asset is an identifiable data resource that has value to an organisation and is worth managing or governing.

A non-Microsoft Purview Data Asset could be a database, table, spreadsheet, CSV file, report, API, data feed or other data resource.

The term Data Asset is a broad business and data-management term. It does not mean the asset has been registered in Microsoft Purview.

Information Asset

An Information Asset is a body of information that is defined and managed as a single unit because it has value to an organisation and needs to be managed, protected, retained or governed.

In information governance, particularly within UK Government, Information Asset is often used as the broader term.

Information Assets can include documents, records, policies, contracts, emails, spreadsheets, databases and datasets, including information held digitally or in physical form.

A simple distinction is:

Data Asset = a data resource that has organisational value.

Information Asset = a managed body of information that has organisational value.

Dataset

A Dataset is a collection of data that is organised and treated as a unit.

For example:

• a CSV containing customer transactions
• an Excel workbook containing survey results
• a database table containing employee records
• a collection of research or analytical data

A Dataset can also be a Data Asset if the organisation considers it valuable.

The simple difference is:

Dataset = a collection of data organised and treated as a unit.

Data Asset = a data resource the organisation considers valuable and worth managing.

Microsoft Purview Data Asset

A Microsoft Purview Data Asset is the metadata representation of a data or information resource within Microsoft Purview Data Map.

For example, Microsoft Purview may discover and catalogue:

• databases
• schemas
• tables and views
• files and documents
• Databricks assets
• Microsoft Fabric assets
• Power BI assets

Microsoft Purview records metadata about these resources so they can be discovered, understood and governed.

The underlying data normally remains in its original source system.

Why this can be confusing

The same thing can legitimately be described in different ways.

For example, CustomerTransactions.csv could be:

A Dataset
because it contains a collection of transaction data organised as a unit.

A Data Asset
because the organisation considers the data valuable and wants to manage it.

An Information Asset
if the organisation defines and manages it as a body of business information.

A Microsoft Purview Data Asset
once it is discovered or represented within Microsoft Purview Data Map.

So:

Dataset = the organised collection of data.

Data Asset = the data resource of organisational value.

Information Asset = the managed body of valuable information.

Microsoft Purview Data Asset = the metadata representation of that resource within Microsoft Purview.

These categories can overlap. The same resource may legitimately be described in more than one way depending on the context.

Relevant Microsoft Purview Data Assets can then be associated with one or more Microsoft Purview Data Products.

Related definition

To understand how these Microsoft Purview Data Assets are grouped and governed around a business purpose or use case, see What Is a Microsoft Purview Data Product? — Data SkyLab Studio Definition.