Eliminating Data Silos in Businesses: A Guide For Marketers

Some businesses manage without even realizing they’re dealing with data silos, so it’s not really a pressing issue, right? Wrong. As harmless as they may seem, data silos are lurking affairs and can wreak havoc on your efficiency and decision-making.

You have the information—but it’s fragmented, so you can’t see the full picture. We’re talking about lots of wasted resources and missed opportunities.

Thankfully, it’s a problem that has solutions. This article will act as your guide to data silos. Apart from a fuller understanding of the issue, you’ll learn how to identify silos and break them down. 

A heads-up: Breadcrumbs helps to solve data silo issues in businesses by offering a strategic approach to connect your Marketing Automation Platform (MAP) and Customer Relationship Management (CRM) system. 

The leading contact scoring tool provides a holistic view of your customer’s journey by integrating critical data sources. The benefits: no more blind spots, no more fragmented insights into customer journeys. Plus, it transmits the scoring information back to your data sources.

What Are Data Silos? 

A data silo is a collection of data that’s held or controlled by one business unit but is isolated or not easily accessible to others. It’s an organic issue that forms as various teams adopt different tools and systems—or simply develop a habit of hoarding data within themselves. 

Imagine two companies: A and B. 

In the former, information flows seamlessly from marketing to sales, customer service, and beyond. The company has private cloud storage, integration software, application inventory management, and other systems and processes in place. In fact, it treats data as a well-managed asset, as it should be.

What about Company B? Here, teams are more comfortable playing solo or sharing as little information as they can get away with. So you have sales data locked away in their CRM, customer service interactions languishing in support tickets, and marketing analytics gathering dust in dashboards. 

As you can imagine, it’s bound to result in mismatched messaging and hamper your marketing efforts. 

Which of these businesses do you think is better positioned for success?

Why Do Data Silos Exist? 

No business sets out to operate with data silos, and yet they can crop up organically like unwanted guests. 

Still, understanding the inadvertent reasons behind their existence can come in handy for eliminating them. Here are some of the more common causes:

1. Disconnected Technology

Imagine marketing rolling out a cutting-edge analytics platform while sales clings to a dusty, obsolete CRM system. But it’s not just about how old technology is. It could just be an issue stemming from various teams using tools, databases, and systems that don’t integrate or have any way to “talk” to each other. 

The resulting disconnect in technology is a prime breeding ground for data silos. 

2. Silo Culture

Sometimes, the culprit isn’t technology but a company culture discouraging information sharing. In these companies, teams operate in isolated bubbles with little cross-functional collaboration. Consequently, they see their data as something to be closely guarded from interference by other teams. 

Competition between departments can be healthy. But when they’re not, they come with consequences, including data hoarding.

3. Business Growth

Ironically, success can be a double-edged sword. Consider this: during the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent stay-at-home mandates, some companies experienced rapid growth, leading to the emergence of new teams and processes seemingly out of nowhere.

When there’s no concerted effort to align these diverse elements, expect data silos to sprout as a consequence of expansion. Moreover, siloed data can hinder the effectiveness of a company’s marketing strategy, leading to disjointed campaigns and missed opportunities for targeted outreach.

4. Acquisitions and Mergers

They can be exciting transitions, yes, with each organization coming with its own established data management practices, tools, and systems. However it could also be like blending ingredients from different recipes into one dish,  

Imagine one company has invested in the right solutions and implemented enterprise architecture strategies such as keeping everyone, including stakeholders, in the loop. Meanwhile, the teams in the other company that operate in silos fiercely guard their data and view it as a competitive advantage. 

5. Decentralized IT

In this setup, different departments have the autonomy to buy their software and technologies. There are upsides to this: they can choose solutions that best fit their needs, and that points to faster implementation and agility. 

The snag? Data silos. Unless there’s significant alignment, the business ends up in a situation where applications, platforms, and databases are not connected to each other or are just plain incompatible. 

How to Identify Them

Now, let’s get practical. Data silos aren’t always clear-cut, but whatever the case, identifying them is an essential first step to getting rid of them.

Here are the signs to watch out for:

1. Data Fortress Mentality

Keep an eye out for how different teams access and share data. 

Say there’s a company-wide marketing campaign going on, but vital customer data is locked away in the sales department’s vault. Marketing’s request for access is met with suspicion or delays, even though that will clearly hinder impact. 

This is a red flag for a siloed data environment.

2. Complaints Over Insufficient Data

Data isn’t always available, but what if you know it should be, and yet various teams are complaining about the lack of necessary data for specific business initiatives? Those complaints may be indicators of deeper issues relating to data accessibility, integration, or collaboration across departments.

3. Missing Holistic View 

Does your organization struggle to paint a clear 360° picture of its overall performance or customer journey? Fragmented data locked in silos makes it difficult to see the bigger picture and identify key trends.

4. Inconsistent Reporting and Unaddressed Errors

Nobody likes to see discrepancies and inaccuracies, but occasional hiccups happen all the same. However, when they become routine and persist without correction, you’re looking at a data silo situation. It could be a sign that teams are working with different data sets.

5. Duplication 

Imagine two departments, marketing and R&D, unknowingly conducting separate surveys to understand customer preferences. Or various units working independently to help with forecasting supply chain demand. Sounds implausible, but it happens.

Such duplication will not just waste valuable resources; it will create redundant data sets that contradict each other.

Why Data Silos Are Problematic For Your Business

Say you’re gearing up for a new product launch with a multi-channel marketing blitz. Beautiful Instagram ads, feature-packed emails, trendy social media content, the whole works. You’re absolutely sure that you have the recipe for success and that your campaign will yield record-breaking engagement and sales.

But then there’s something you’ve ignored so far. Let’s consider how data silos can sabotage your best effort in several ways:

1. Blindfolded Targeting

Remember those ads? Without quick and reliable access to customer data from other channels, like website purchases, lead generation, or email engagement, your targeting may be off-base. As a result, you may end up reaching the wrong audience with the wrong message.

2. Lack of Coordination

This is a silent but pretty potent disruptor. For example, the marketing team may carry out various phases of this campaign without carrying the customer service team along. The results? Customer needs and expectations suffer.

3. Disconnected Measurement

You launched across multiple channels, but siloed data makes it really difficult to measure the impact of each accurately. 

Were those eye-catching social media posts actually driving sales, or was it the personalized email sequence that sealed the deal? Without a unified view, you’re flying blind, unable to optimize your campaigns and maximize ROI.

4. Operational Inefficiencies

Duplication, inconsistent data reporting, the inability to quickly access data when needed, issues with data integrity, poor decision-making, wasted storage space, and communication breakdowns. Data silos create operational inefficiencies that can hurt your efforts and campaigns — and, ultimately, your bottom line.

How to Eliminate Data Silos

The good news is, while it takes concerted effort, you can dismantle data silos in your business. Here’s what to do:

1. Map the Data Flow

A data flow mapping provides a clear understanding of where data originates, how it’s transformed, and where it ends up. It helps you identify data barriers and exposes bottlenecks and duplication. Plus, you’re able to see the areas that need improving. 

You want to outline major data sources and destinations across departments. Then, gradually zoom in to map specific processes and transformations within each area. Identify any points where data flow may be impeded or diverted and contribute to the formation of silos.

2. Invest in Data Integration Software

Integrating your data is a vital step if you’re serious about breaking down information silos. 

It means bringing together data sourced from various sources to make it more accessible for users across the organization. Because it allows various systems to talk to each other, you have a complete, accurate, unified data view. What’s more, the company can recognize and fix issues that grew from the silos.

Full integration may take some doing, but there are several tools, like Zapier and Mulesoft, to make it easier. Additionally, investing in robust data transformation software such as Talend or Informatica can streamline the process of converting and harmonizing data formats, ensuring compatibility and consistency across all systems. 

Make sure you choose a solution with robust security measures and scalability capabilities. 

3. Build a Codified System

Imagine Marketing using “customer ID” while Sales uses “client number”—and both refer to the same individual. There’s bound to be confusion and inconsistencies. 

Introducing a codified system allows you to maintain data efficiently and ensures there’s smooth data exchange between departments. It will also help get rid of ambiguity in data reporting.

4. Encourage a Collaborative Culture 

Let’s move away from the technical aspect. Data silos also involve a human angle you must work on first.

Creating a company culture around collaboration involves breaking down departmental barriers and emphasizing why connectivity is important in data sharing. For example, you can create cross-functional teams comprising marketing, sales, and other departments. Task them with joint projects that have them working together and collaborating with data.

Plus, you must take a top-down approach. Executives must be visible champions of collaboration. They should actively participate in projects, leverage project management tools, share information across departments, and model open communication. With leadership setting the tone, the culture is bound to trickle down to team members.

Want to see the culture spread faster? Pro tip: reward teams that demonstrate effective collaboration and data sharing.

5. Use All-In-One Solutions

Some software platforms allow you to unify your data management organization-wide, providing not only a solution for tackling silos but also delivering substantial vendor risk management benefits. 

Why are these platforms effective? They’re comprehensive and eliminate the need for multiple disconnected applications. 

Because you can integrate various data sources and functionalities into a single platform, you’re simplifying data access and reducing the need for multiple integrations. Plus, it keeps various teams aligned.

That said, you want to carefully assess your integration requirements before you hop on an all-in-one software.

6. Implement Data Governance 

Thanks to a data governance policy, you can recognize silos as they arise and prevent new ones from forming in the future. 

How? For one, it provides a set of consistent principles that guide how data is managed across all departments. That way, there’s uniformity, and data is treated with the same level of care and precision — so there’s no risk of isolated practices that contribute to silos.

What’s more, as part of comprehensive EA governance, the policy keeps cross-departmental collaboration around data management up and running. 

Part of comprehensive EA governance involves implementing assessment tools to recognize silos as they arise and prevent new ones from forming in the future. This includes joint data ownership models, shared data lakes, and standardized access controls.

For comprehensive insights and training on utilizing tools like Power BI to manage and analyze data organization-wide, consider exploring resources available on the Power BI training courses page. This could include courses on data integration, visualization techniques, and best practices for fostering a collaborative data culture.

Breaking Down Data Silos in Your Business: Key Takeaways

Data silos manifest in various ways, standing in the way of productivity and effective insights. They affect your teams, customers, data value and integrity, and ultimately, your business success. Luckily, you can get rid of the problem.

This article lays out the steps you must take to eliminate data silos from your business. They include mapping out data flows, using codified systems, and integrating your business applications into a centralized hub. You must empower your teams with the right tools, like data integration software and Breadcrumbs, to bridge the gap between various departments.

But dismantling data silos isn’t an all-out technical exercise. It needs a cultural shift, a commitment to collaboration and transparency. 

What’s your reward when done right? Efficiency, clarity, and a business poised for smarter, more informed strides.