Mar 30

Written by:
3/30/2011 2:48 PM 

What's a data silo? It's a collection of information that's separate from the organization's shared data. When one person keeps handwritten notes on sales prospects and another has details of costs in a spreadsheet, it's easy for decisions to be made that don't take into account the information in those two private collections.

Then you've got the raw materials for some unfortunate misunderstandings.

"How could you promise to do the job for that price?! You aren't even thinking about the tariffs."

or

"Listen, Jason told me you could do this. What's the hold up now?"

or

"No one told me that you were in charge. We decided to do it this way in our department."

Sometimes data silos are part of legacy systems. One organization told us that they were planning to migrate the data from the spreadsheets they'd been using into the online CRM they had switched to, but just hadn't gotten around to it yet.

The SNAFUs this can lead to make a data migration plan essential. Legacy systems have to be retired immediately.

Another common source of data silo issues is in the contact center. A customer service rep believes that she's completed a First Call Resolution, and doesn't bother to note the discussion, simply because she's busy. When the customer calls back, there's no record of the previous discussion, so the new conversation naturally starts off on the wrong foot.

From our point of view, the solution is twofold: use a solution that's easy to integrate into staff workflow, and implement a custom installation that works for your company. We're convinced that Microsoft Dynamics gives you an advantage right out of the box because it works with Outlook and other elements of MS Office, so it's already comfortable for nearly everyone.

We create a custom installation for your company, too, integrating MS Dynamics with your other solutions, assisting with data migration, and providing training that ensures that your CRM functions smoothly with your workflow throughout the company. From the shop floor to the back office to the Contact Center, everyone can use the system.

The result: fewer data silos, less stress, and a better work environment.