Technologies for data processing and storage have become affordable and economical. It is impossible to set tasks to plan and calculate indicators without interaction with data. To be successful, a company must have a unified understanding of what data is and what its value is to this company.
But data processing requires carefulness and accuracy. There are barriers leading to problems in data management. Departments of companies are forced to work with isolated data stores - Data Silos.
What are the Data Silos?
These are data stores that have some limitations. Initially, this concept was used as a highly secure and accessible data store (for example, for strictly confidential information). Later, it became associated with the deferred use of information, a kind of warehouse to store data that may be useful in the future. Now the concept is used as "local" storage of data that can be used or available only to a limited group of people in the company.
How to Avoid Data Silos?
Data silos are a common problem in midsize and large companies. Here are some of the challenges that data stores can lead to:
• Employees cannot access the data they need.
• Departments have fundamental misunderstandings, slowing economic growth.
• Money is wasted.
• Data silos make sensitive data more likely to be mishandled.
What Causes Data Silos?
No centralized IT infrastructure. Сompanies do not often have centralized systems to collect and store their data (data lake or data warehouse). Using different software in each department leads to the formation of Data Silos.
Siloed structure. Also, Data Silos can occur with an isolated organizational structure. The larger the company, the more difficult it is to have a consistent and effective internal communication system.
By getting rid of the data silos, the company gets access to the correct information at the right time, which helps make intelligent decisions. Removing data silos will reduce the cost of storing information and decrease duplication.
So what is the best solution to avoid data silos? To break down data silos, companies should create a centralized data warehouse. This is the best way to get rid of the data silos.
It is time to create a solution architecture with a data warehouse or data lake that includes all the data the company collects. Data from siloed sources has to be consolidated and available to all departments for quick access to the valuable information they need.
Breaking down data silos takes time and effort. But if you do it, you'll see the benefits right away. When accurate and timely data is available, productivity will improve, an analysis will be more precise, and you will be able to make better business decisions.
Using cloud-based data storage, DataEngi experts will help you get rid of the data silos to get valuable information faster.