Crushing Enterprise Technology Silos

Organizations are self-contained ecosystems of talents, priorities, and processes. Yet, too often, the technology created to support one team is so vertically refined that it offers little process or data connectivity to other teams that depend on these interactions. This siloing effect is a natural consequence of the specialization that happens within enterprises, but it is far from being a healthy one!

Today, organizations depend upon speed, efficiency, and a high degree of accuracy to compete successfully. Those who do the best have learned to crush these silos by interacting more effectively without specialization's barriers. However, connecting teams effectively requires more than the proverbial single source of truth that many strive to achieve. A measurable milestone in this effort must include mutually working within a well-defined process.

When considering the typical ways enterprises attempt to overcome silos, we often refer to a duct-tape approach. This technique requires tools like meetings, email, messaging apps, and shared documents to connect interdisciplinary processes. The question then becomes, "Is this working for us?" The answer is, "oh, we love waiting weeks at a time to find a date that we can get all the decision-makers on a call to nail down the next steps" — No-One-Ever

The ideal technology solution to this silo problem connects processes and data with people as part of their work and decision-making processes. In today's businesses, we don't have enough time to require in-person attendance, tying people up in meetings intended to keep things going. Instead, asynchronous communication and process execution allow a remote workforce and less time-dependent steps in that process to flow more efficiently while maintaining procedural integrity.

Does this technology exist today? The simple answer is, "Yes, there are a variety of components and software orchestrations that can facilitate breaking down silos." Unfortunately, a more sophisticated and complete solution is still not commercially available, but time should prove a better answer is on the horizon.



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