Data Silos: What They Are, How They Form, and How to Prevent Them
Posted: Wed Jan 22, 2025 10:19 am
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6 min. read
Matthew Gibbons
Matthew Gibbons
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Senior Data & Tech Writer
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Communication is important.
You’ve probably heard that before regarding relationships, but it’s true in overseas chinese in canada data environments as well, including within your business. If you don’t communicate with the other people at your company — and if they don’t communicate with each other — you’ll miss out on leads and revenue.
Unfortunately, it’s common for many businesses to struggle with communication. More specifically, many businesses fail to share all the necessary data across their various teams. That can lead to the creation of data silos, which can significantly hinder your business processes.
But what are data silos? We’ll explore the answer to that question in more detail below, so keep reading to find out more. Then subscribe to Revenue Weekly to receive more digital marketing tips right in your inbox!
What are data silos?
Data silos are large bulks of information within your company that are limited solely to one team or department.
So, for instance, your company might have a sales team and a marketing team, among others. Both of those teams use data related to leads and customers. But if they each collect that data separately, one team could end up with information about those leads that the other team doesn’t have.
It’s natural for different teams to gather different information, but they should then share that information with each other (a process called revenue operations). When they don’t, it creates data silos. That’s why integrated data is so vital.
How do data silos form?
If you’re unsure whether your company has data silos, it can be helpful to look at how those silos form and see if that’s happening in your business. But how do they form?
There are a couple of ways you can end up with siloed data. Here’s an overview of each one!
1. Alienated company culture
The first way you could inadvertently generate data silos at your company is by having a disconnected company culture. By “disconnected,” we mean a culture where your varying teams view themselves as separate entities and don’t really interact with each other.
6 min. read
Matthew Gibbons
Matthew Gibbons
Verified badge
Senior Data & Tech Writer
Chevron Down Icon
Communication is important.
You’ve probably heard that before regarding relationships, but it’s true in overseas chinese in canada data environments as well, including within your business. If you don’t communicate with the other people at your company — and if they don’t communicate with each other — you’ll miss out on leads and revenue.
Unfortunately, it’s common for many businesses to struggle with communication. More specifically, many businesses fail to share all the necessary data across their various teams. That can lead to the creation of data silos, which can significantly hinder your business processes.
But what are data silos? We’ll explore the answer to that question in more detail below, so keep reading to find out more. Then subscribe to Revenue Weekly to receive more digital marketing tips right in your inbox!
What are data silos?
Data silos are large bulks of information within your company that are limited solely to one team or department.
So, for instance, your company might have a sales team and a marketing team, among others. Both of those teams use data related to leads and customers. But if they each collect that data separately, one team could end up with information about those leads that the other team doesn’t have.
It’s natural for different teams to gather different information, but they should then share that information with each other (a process called revenue operations). When they don’t, it creates data silos. That’s why integrated data is so vital.
How do data silos form?
If you’re unsure whether your company has data silos, it can be helpful to look at how those silos form and see if that’s happening in your business. But how do they form?
There are a couple of ways you can end up with siloed data. Here’s an overview of each one!
1. Alienated company culture
The first way you could inadvertently generate data silos at your company is by having a disconnected company culture. By “disconnected,” we mean a culture where your varying teams view themselves as separate entities and don’t really interact with each other.