Glossary · IT & systems
Data silo
Information that is stuck in one system or department and can't be used anywhere else.
A data silo is information that is stuck in one system or one department and that the rest of the organisation cannot use. Sales has its figures, production has its own, and nobody sees the whole picture.
Silos arise naturally when each department chooses its own tool without thinking about how everything fits together. They are rarely the result of bad intentions, but they do cost your organisation: duplicated work, conflicting figures and decisions based on half the picture.
You break down silos by linking your systems or bringing data together in one place where everyone can consult it. That way the whole organisation works with the same information instead of with little islands.
