Cummins uses Microsoft Purview to automate information governance more efficiently in the age of AI

Legacy data management challenges

Cummins Inc., a global leader in power solutions, designs, manufactures, and distributes engines, generators, and related technologies with a focus on sustainability. Operating in more than 180 countries with approximately 76,500 employees, Cummins adeptly manages diverse regulations and sensitive data, including HR files, customer information, and intellectual property.

The company is committed to sustainability through its Destination Zero strategy, helping customers navigate the energy transition with an extensive product portfolio.

Some company data must be retained for the life of a product, which could span decades. Most of the company’s data is unstructured and created in its Microsoft 365 environment. These unstructured data records can be named almost anything and contain items like Microsoft Word and PowerPoint files, Teams chats, Outlook emails, videos, and GIFs. Because it doesn’t conform to traditional data standards, this type of data is difficult to classify and manage.

The need to prepare data for generative AI adoption

As Cummins streamlined its governance of data, the company began a pilot program of Microsoft 365 Copilot. Addressing both projects at the same time enabled Cummins to not only strengthen their data management but also to accelerate AI adoption more securely.

As part of its generative AI strategy, Cummins joined the Microsoft Copilot Early Adoption Program. Around the same time, with the support of their partner Infotechtion, the company upgraded its Microsoft 365 E3 license to an E5 license. The E5 license includes Microsoft Purview, a comprehensive set of solutions to help secure, govern, and manage data wherever it lives. “When we started evaluating and testing Microsoft 365 Copilot, we understood that providing it secure, clean data was critical for generating accurate responses. That’s why we decided to go with Microsoft Purview for data governance,” says Manjunatha Sivanna, IT Service Delivery Manager at Cummins.

Challenges around information lifecycles and exponential data growth

The location where a software platform was established, where its data is stored, and who will access that data complicated the data security and management of Cummins’ AI tools and vendors. “We have more than 100 years’ worth of data we must protect and govern in accordance with legal requirements in every jurisdiction we operate in,” says Shukra Kichambare, Senior Manager for Information Governance at Cummins.

To cut down on excess and outdated records, Cummins needed to automate and update data lifecycles. With tens of millions of files in its environment, retaining data too long could result in unnecessary storage costs. Too much data means more records for generative AI solutions to sift through, and it can make eDiscovery more complex and expensive.

The need to improve collaboration while streamlining data security and compliance

As a global company that has made many acquisitions over the years, Cummins manages multiple IT infrastructures. To centralize records management and meet information governance, protection, and compliance standards, IT staff merged product data into a single classification system. Employees attached a static security classification label to important data. Then they moved these files manually to the electronic records repository. The repository eased administration but made it difficult to collaborate, as employees were no longer able to edit official data records inside it.

Before selecting Microsoft Purview, Cummins evaluated third-party tools to update its data processes. “We found that Microsoft Purview solutions were much more advanced and flexible in supporting our information governance approach,” says Sivanna. “And we knew Microsoft would continue to invest in and improve Purview.”

Improved user experience with centralized data management

Cummins automated its data classification, lifecycles, and sensitivity labeling with Microsoft Purview Information Protection. Sensitivity labels in the solution are persistent, so employees can keep important files in the apps they use every day. Though data classification and lifecycles are automated, people can still make manual selections.

Unlike using a centralized data repository, workers can co-author or update sensitive files as needed. “Sensitivity labelling and auto classify features in Microsoft Purview Information Protection enforce our governance and compliance. The Purview dashboard gives us a bird's eye view of compliance across the organization, and we have a roadmap to discover, classify, and protect sensitive data,” says Kichambare.

Streamlined data security and compliance with an integrated approach

Microsoft Purview Information Protection applies sensitivity labels after classification, to enforce sensitivity level and handling procedures. Unlike the previous static labels, Purview sensitivity labels provide protection settings, like encryption, that can restrict what actions authorized people can take on the content.

For Cummins employees, data classification is now actionable. When a document is labeled as confidential, its access and treatment are defined by that classification and persist inside and outside the Cummins domain. If employees choose to apply classification labels, they can. Otherwise, auto classification policies work behind the scenes.

When it comes to confidential information architecture, automation of information management ensures consistency. “Microsoft Purview helps preserve confidentiality of sensitive data because everything is seamlessly integrated. We can manage data in all our email messages and SharePoint sites, the entire Microsoft 365 environment. Automation reduces the risk of human error as well,” says Kichambare.

Kichambare adds that Purview has fundamentally changed Cummins’ approach to data security and compliance, remarking, “With Microsoft Purview, employees co-author living documents versus working with data stored in disparate systems. This is where the magic happens—where a PowerPoint presentation becomes a business decision, in a single environment that gives us collaboration, security, and automated compliance.”

In the future, Kichambare anticipates Microsoft Purview will enable organizations to free employees from data security and compliance tasks. With auto classification, the most accurate and role-appropriate records will be returned when employees search for information. “Microsoft Purview is on the path to becoming a knowledge management solution, beyond offering governance, data protection, and collaboration,” he says.