In today’s data-driven society, enormous amounts of data are being transferred, stored, and generated daily. Data are a critical component in the functioning of many organizational systems. However, inasmuch as data hold the key to corporate success, these can also be a pain point if there aren’t proper data management practices in place.

Ideally, an organization’s systems and processes must be unified or properly integrated. Businesses have a lot of interdependent moving parts, and data should be accessible to these moving parts to varying degrees. Therefore, the efficiency of one arm of the business, for example, RevOps, depends on the output of other parts of the organization. Without an integrated system, it’s easy for data to get siloed in some departments and divisions in the organization.

Sometimes, if an organization’s systems aren’t optimized properly, data silos will emerge. But, identifying them may take time. Nevertheless, what’s clear is that data silos can lead to massive inefficiencies and loss of coordination between teams. Plus, these inefficiencies may trickle down to affect the customer experience since it could become disjointed or unoptimized. That said, here’s a guide to eliminating data silos in your organization:

1. Data Consolidation

One of the primary causes of data silos is decentralized systems. If each department, for example, utilizes a separate storage system, some pockets of data may be locked up in different departments.

To address this issue, enterprises must find a means to consolidate their data into a single system. Putting everything into one system opens up more opportunities for company-wide system integration. However, data centralization is extremely difficult to achieve if you’re still using legacy systems since they have limited integration capabilities. Achieving centralization with legacy systems will require ongoing maintenance and monitoring. But, if you can pull it off, you’ll benefit greatly.

Nevertheless, centralizing an enterprise system streamlines internal communication channels. Authorized personnel from any department can directly access data from this central database. One of the reasons cloud storage and backup solutions have grown in popularity is that they allow enterprises to keep their data in a centralized location, allowing employees to access information straight from the company database. Plus, cloud solutions enable people to access their data remotely. Therefore, it’s much easier to centralize data for those organizations that rely on cloud or software as a service (SaaS) platforms.

2. Establish Sound Data Governance Principles

Organizations need to have sound data governance policies that outline how people within the organization are supposed to handle data. Data governance policies provide a framework for defining aspects of organizational systems, such as data availability, integrity, and usability.

These policies will also assist your company in managing data security compliance. Therefore, establishing rules or parameters regarding data usage allows people to be on the same page. If every arm of the business understands these data management policies, they’ll act in accordance with those guidelines. This reduces inconsistency and prevents the accumulation of data silos throughout the entire organization.

Data governance also helps an organization define its access controls for improved data security. Only people who have access keys can access specific parts of the system. Access controls are, thus, a crucial part of data security.

3. Integrate Software Products

Nowadays, organizations rely on a lot of software and technology. However, some pieces of technology can be easily integrated whilst others aren’t as flexible.

Nevertheless, integrating your software products is a great way to streamline data storage and transfer. This relates to the above point about centralization. Organizations can integrate diverse sets of data by integrating software solutions. Because integrated data help the enterprise system to view things from a 360-degree viewpoint, these ultimately provide more detailed analytical insights.

4. Create Collaborative Culture

Culture defines how an organization does things. A company with a positive corporate culture is more likely to succeed. As a result, it’d be beneficial if corporations worked to foster a collaborative team culture.

Sharing data between members of the same team doesn’t have to be a chore. People within organizations shouldn’t be secretive about their operations. Instead, they should be willing to give the information needed to help the organization grow. Collaboration is essential for organizational success.

5. Hire A Data Specialist

Data integration or unification may prove difficult for more prominent organizations because of the scale. As a result, appointing someone to be in charge of data unification throughout the entire organization may be a good idea. They’ll be responsible for monitoring data silos actively and devising strategies to eliminate them.

When data silos are discovered too late, firms must invest significant time and money in clearing them up. As a result, hiring an IT specialist or data manager may be a good solution. The data manager will collaborate closely with department or unit managers to ensure everything is in order.

6. Make It A Company Strategy

The strategy outlines how a company plans to achieve its various corporate objectives. It sets the direction for how things are done in an organization. So, in order to foster a collaborative culture in the workplace, managers must incorporate data management into the business strategy. This is done to ensure that every aspect of the business is geared toward preventing data silos. Companies should have a greater incentive to do this because data silos result in lost efficiency. Therefore, businesses should do their best to prevent them. But, it all begins with prioritizing data management.

7. Create Uniform Data Sheets

Creating standard data sheets enables an organization to rely on a single source of truth rather than multiple sources. Presumably, other departments will generate their own data. However, if various departments create and gather their own data, it won't be easy to obtain a clear or conclusive picture of what each department is doing.

Managers or executives may wish to know how things are going by simply looking at a dashboard that highlights the progress of all key projects, present analytics, or a summary of the business's current financial condition. This is where uniform data sheets can help. Data silos can be avoided by relying on a single source of truth, like a dashboard.

Conclusion

Data silos are a significant source of inefficiency for organizations. This is because they prevent organizations from collaborating as they should. Legacy systems are the primary cause of data silos because they’re built on rigid infrastructures that don’t allow for integration. Fortunately, modern cloud systems are usually simple to integrate. The key to preventing data silos and breaking down existing ones is proper centralization and integration.