Break down data silos

Data silos don't just disappear into thin air. If you want to get rid of them, you have to put it high on your agenda. As a company, it is essential to develop a comprehensive plan on how exactly to break down the silos.

But where to start? First, it's important to avoid vendor lock-ins. According to Gartner, by 2020, 75 percent of enterprises managing their data in a public cloud will be subject to vendor lock-ins.

This in turn makes migrating data from one platform to another costly and time-consuming. Therefore, companies need to switch to platforms that give them back autonomy over their own data and thus break down data silos or avoid their creation in the first place.

Such future-proof alternatives already exist. They guarantee that data can be accessed from anywhere and migrated at any time. This is the basis that is still lacking in many companies.

However, many data silos also arise due to a lack of communication between departments or teams. Only open communication can help. Companies should ensure that their employees communicate openly and regularly with each other.

In this way, such silos almost dissolve by themselves. In addition to communication, however, the data culture in the company is just as important: Do employees even know where they should store their data or which systems are available to them for this purpose?

Those responsible must therefore ensure that everyone in the company knows how they should handle data and which platforms are permitted. In this way, they minimize the creation of data silos and reduce shadow IT at the same time.

Even though data silos are still widespread across industries, the spirit of optimism is palpable. Companies should draw up a plan as soon as possible on how they intend to break down the silos, ensure an open communication culture and provide their employees with processes for data storage - then they will benefit from a holistic view of their data and can exploit the full potential.