You know what they say, "data is the new oil." As such, data management is a critical focus for businesses—especially considering our increasingly digital landscape and the increase in cobbled data systems. Unfortunately, data can become siloed when it's not managed properly. Siloed data refers to data that is isolated in separate systems and cannot be shared or integrated across an organization. Multiple sources of siloed data create cobbled data systems and can make it nearly impossible to leverage data effectively.
The Problem with Cobbled Data System
A cobbled data system is exactly what it sounds like—a hodgepodge of disparate tools and technologies used to store, access, and analyze your business's various datasets that create siloed data. While this is an understandable oversight, cobbled-together systems create long-term problems with scalability, accessibility, and efficiency. Here are a few primary reasons why cobbled systems are detrimental to business development:
Limited Scalability
Siloed data systems don’t enable departments to easily share valuable data, such as contact records, deal stages, customer service reports, and profitability, undermining organizational data integrity and inhibiting scalability. Without accurate business data, departments fail to make informed decisions about growth. Additionally, incompatible legacy systems require costly advanced, and sometimes custom, integrations to share even the most basic information
Accessibility Risks
When multiple teams manage various parts of a single system, there are more frequent oversights of small details and less accountability for platforms, leading to larger problems. These significant problems include potential security breaches or other issues arising from mismanagement or negligence. However, data security isn’t the only thing at stake. When there is a lack of unity amongst platforms, it’s difficult to create consistency in processes and manage sensitive data. This leads to a lack of ownership and puts your company at risk of losing access to key tools.
Inefficiencies
Cobbled data systems often create duplication of effort, leading to wasted time and resources. This lack of coordination also makes it harder for teams to communicate effectively, which further contributes to organizational deficiencies. Legacy systems —outdated software platforms that were grandfathered into the company — are often a major source of inefficiencies. For example, your team may be spending hours trying to get the right information from a legacy software platform, whereas if they had an optimized MarTech stack, it could be automated and more efficient.
Understanding how your data systems integrate and share data is the best way to prevent siloed data and cobbled data systems. With new software platforms frequently appearing, causing shiny object syndrome, and outdated platforms being grandfathered into company processes, it can be a slippery slope between streamlining processes or siloed data systems. A well-constructed data management strategy focused on avoiding these oversights will save your business from unexpected costs and limitations.
It's not too late to take your data management seriously; learn more now with our free, Hidden Costs of Cobbled Systems Ebook.