What is data silo?

Data silo explained

Data silos form naturally: each department chooses the software that suits its work, such as an ERP for finance, a CRM for sales and a separate tool for the web shop. Each system has its own customer numbers, definitions and exports, and nobody sees the whole picture.

The result is more than spreadsheet hassle. Questions that span departments, such as "what is the margin per customer including returns and service costs", are almost impossible to answer. And anyone who merges data by hand makes mistakes that nobody notices.

You break down silos by bringing data from the systems together in a data warehouse, with shared keys such as a customer number that means the same in every source. It is also an organisational matter: departments have to agree whose definition takes precedence.

Example

At Acme Groothandel, orders live in the ERP, customer contacts in the CRM and returns in a customer service spreadsheet. Only when the three come together in one warehouse does the commercial director see which customers buy a lot but also return a lot.