Liberate your organization from chaos! In general, business systems and technologies tend to pop up as either the result of an organized strategic effort or as reaction to a problem. The latter tends to breed less-than-ideal information silos over time. And, boy, can silos in a business quickly exacerbate and amplify organizational issues, particularly when growth is a major factor (actual or intended). By “silos”, we’re, of course, referencing any individual piece of software or system that has been put into place to solve a specific problem or fill a gap. They were great (or a total disaster), but the fact is, they’re in use, they don’t talk to other systems, and/or you’re outgrowing them. TLDR: Own the mistake, save what systems are working, dump the rest, and work towards creating an integrated system.
Information silos tend to start out simple enough. The business isn’t usually bananas complicated in the beginning. A spreadsheet here, spreadsheet there. An innocuous enough thought process happens like: “Hm, probably should grab an on-site ERP system or something.” “Oh, we need a CRM, but we’re not that big, so let’s get a cheapie just to help organize our contacts’ info and the handful of current deals we handle.” “Oh it’d be cool if we could see some data analytics.”
The process, reasoning, and in-the-moment solutions may differ to varying degrees, but the result tends to be the same — unintegrated chaos and runaway inefficiencies. You (or your predecessor) have compiled all these tools that might be great by themselves, but together, they are a big fat boat anchor covered in barnacles. They don’t talk to each other, or if they do, it’s not in a meaningful or consistent way, and there’s limited or no options for automation. Information silos can be pretty sneaky. They tend to increase in number over time, creating so many places to hide bad habits and inconsistent execution as you grow. What’s worse is you probably already know it’s an issue (or doubly so, you don’t). Silos like this tend to constantly gnaw at the back of your mind, whether you are actively aware of them or not. But other things pop up and feel like they take higher priority so you keep kicking that down the proverbial road for “tomorrow-you” to deal with. Well, hi “tomorrow-you”, it’s nice to meet you.
First Step, Big Step
Recognizing there’s a problem — this is a HUGE step forward. A step that should definitely be celebrated — but the next one is even bigger. Taking action. Now, that is what separates a pipe dream from reality. To help confirm your suspicion, here are a few common tell-tale signs it’s time to reevaluate the business technologies you have in place.
- Duplicated efforts are an issue (e.g., double data entry)
- Effective communication and collaboration are problematic
- Using or maintaining these systems is an immense time-suck
- There’s not enough people in place to manage the systems
- Onboarding employees is painful
- Having to check multiple places to find the right info
- Uncertainty over KPI’s
- Uncertainty over what systems are actually in place (and used)
- Suffering from bad or incomplete data
- Poor decisions are being made
- Employees operate “their” way, either intentionally or unknowingly
- Promising deals are lost
- The customer experience is inconsistent
- You’re stuck working IN the business, and not ON the business
- You want to: A- curl up into a ball, B- yell at or blame someone else, or C- own it and do something about it.
Time for a Moon Boot Leap
Assuming the best of intentions, information silos are not anyone’s “fault” or even necessarily a “bad thing”. The moment they do become a “bad thing”, however, is simply a testament to their effectiveness for the problem they were solving at the time. They’ve allowed you to reach that level of growth to the point where now they’re the problem. Each of these tools were implemented to help the organization but they just aren’t sustainable anymore. There’s nothing wrong with that, it’s a good thing! It means that it’s time for a moon boot leap forward. It’s time for fully integrated systems where each piece of data you capture benefits the full stack and, ultimately, your entire organization.
There’s a lot of solutions out there that work to stack technologies, creating a masterful, symbiotic data ecosystem. You’ve got some heavy-hitting players in the space with no shortage of options. We’ve worked in and been exposed to many of those platforms. Each have their strengths and (sometimes just perceived) weaknesses. It’ll ultimately be up to you to make the decision. You’ve got to answer things like, what are our needs, what exactly are we trying to accomplish, where are we trying to take this company, and which system will actually ensure our success. You really just don’t want to fail. To be embarrassed. We don’t want that either, for anyone. The only way that can possibly happen is by not putting yourself out there, performing due diligence, and taking the next step. You deserve success. Your business deserves success. So let’s get after it! Do your research! Initiate conversations with the right folks. Spend some time in thoughtful consideration. Your people deserve the best solution that aligns with the business’s purpose while providing the foundation for sustainable, responsible growth. Maybe less headaches too, that’d be cool. But that all starts with you. We’re always here to help, but as long as you’re moving forward with a great, fully-stacked system that meets your needs, we’re happy!