Take a hard look at your business processes

Do you have "data silos"?

Think about the users in your business: Is anyone reliant on a specific spreadsheet alongside GoldMine to do their job? Any Access Databases ? If the answer is yes, then read on... you may have a problem.

The bright and innovative users in your business will often create additional 'data silos' in the form of spreadsheets or Access Databases. This may be simply to enable them to do their job. Or it could be that they are extraordinarily helpful individuals, and they simply mean to help their colleagues. Or they may be bright and enthusiastic, and get a kick out of designing databases and programming spreadsheets.

Why is this a BIG problem for any business?

The individual who creates the data silo (Excel, Access etc), will almost always have the best of intentions. And it probably suits management, since this person does something pro-actively that solves a problem. Sound familiar so far?

Now comes the point where the application that is external to GoldMine builds up a head of steam; In other words, it becomes more complicated and comprehensive. And difficult to maintain. In fact, so difficult that the original creator of the data silo is the only one who can maintain it. But that is not all.

Consider what happens if a small thing like Contact History is entered in two places. This may not be an issue while you have a small team, since everyone knows to look in two places. Then you employ a sales person who is out on the road or someone who is not in the office all the time. And before you know it, your customers are asking why they are getting different messages. Worse still, they don't get a message, think you don't care, and go elsewhere.

I know of an accountancy firm - who shall remain nameless - that has seven different customer databases, none of which talk to each other. Their procedure when an address changes, is to print the details, then get the "owners" of each database to make the update and sign it off !

Risk

I bet you have spotted the next problem already... the employee ( who maintains the spreadsheet ) leaves. And your business-critical processes are bound into an Excel spreadsheet which only he/she can maintain. Worse still, the employee leaves on bad terms, and he/she has the master password, which renders the spreadsheet useless.

5 Steps to avoid Data Silos

  1. Always be vigilant for data silos. They invariably end in tears. Spend the time NOW, find out why they were created in the first place, and make sure that the data deficiency is plugged (and the spreadsheet archived !!).
  2. Encourage your staff to share the difficulties they have when they do their jobs. In this 'sharing' culture, you will encourage the data silo wannabe's to own up; the other 90% of your staff will become more engaged, AND more productive as a result of solving the data / process deficiency problem.
  3. Speak to your GoldMine solutions partner to find a way to address the problem. With their experience, they have 9 times out of 10, seen it all before.
  4. If the solution cannot be created with GoldMine native functionality, then consider an add-on product. There are literally hundreds of little applications out there that add tremendous value to GoldMine (SquareGiraffe's included).
  5. If you cannot find an add-on and you need to store additional data, make sure that you have one primary source of data, and INTEGRATE ( not duplicate ) the additional information.

If you think you need to implement point 5 above, then you probably need to discuss a GoldMine Integration project with a professional. It costs less than you think!

Call us now on +44 (0)1780 480031 or email us for a no-obligation chat about how you can empty your data silos.

Our Software Design Philosophy ensures return on investment.