How organisations can avoid silos using technology

With continuous advances in technology, as leaders what practices can we onboard to reduce silos in our respective organisations?

Before we address the practices that can be followed in breaking down silos, I think it is very important to first understand how technology silos are created in organisations. This is not always intentional, but rather because the technical needs of organisations are addressed at different stages.

For example, consider that retailer X has a physical and online presence, but its eCommerce capabilities were developed through a separate effort to its store network and supply chain solutions. As these systems have not been integrated correctly, or they have been implemented at different times, they stand as silos within business operations, leading to a disconnect in an environment that needs fluid integration.

The result is that stock volumes are not in sync between their stock management system and their eCommerce site, impacting their customer experience and leading to lost sales opportunities.

Another crippling result of siloed solutions is the inability to access data for performance management and analytical reporting across these solutions. The data is fragmented and limited in richness to successfully produce accurate and meaningful reports. Often you will hear the Sales and Marketing team say ‘we are flying blind’, not having insights into customer behaviour and buying patterns, that allow them to guide production, procurement, and marketing efforts.

To overcome these daily challenges, the most prominent mistake organisations make is to throw manpower at it: for example, using their procurement team to manually copy and update stock levels across these solutions, or the finance team to collate data into spreadsheets across departments for weekly management reporting, redirecting their focus from their main functions. The often-unquantifiable cost of this approach is overlooked, and most organisations don’t consider the opportunity cost, impact on their employees, or fully understand the number of mistakes made.

It stifles the organisation’s growth potential from being a lean operation with smart offerings to it being a reactive organisation.

In your opinion, are organisations with robust technological systems more advanced in dealing with silos?

Absolutely.

Every organisation is at a different level of digital maturity and faces its own daily challenges. For organisations that understand the importance of integration and data accessibility, it will be easier to address the next challenge because the foundations have been laid.

For those that have not yet addressed this fundamental challenge, it’s never too late, the sooner you talk to your technology provider and prioritise it, the better. After all, you do not want to be left behind but rather set up your organisation to be agile and flexible for future growth.