Data silos can be a significant obstacle for businesses, leading to inefficiencies and poor decision-making. Businesses incur an average loss of $9.7 million annually due to poor-quality data caused by data silos. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central can be a powerful tool for eliminating data silos and improving overall business performance.
These silos can significantly hinder an organization’s efficiency and effectiveness. For managed service providers (MSPs), helping clients overcome these silos is crucial for enhancing their digital presence and operational effectiveness.Understanding why data silos exist is crucial for effectively breaking them down. According to a survey by Salesforce, 81% of IT leaders cited data siloing as a significant barrier to their digital transformation initiatives, highlighting the widespread nature of this problem.
What is a data silo?
Data silos happen when companies store their data in isolated systems or departments, making it difficult to access and integrate. Although some data may need to be isolated for security and clearance level reasons, a large subset of any company’s internal data isn’t sensitive enough to be siloed.
These silos often form due to a lack of communication between departments, disparate systems and legacy technologies. For MSP clients, data silos can lead to fragmented information, reduced productivity and missed opportunities.
Data silos reduce transparency and lower team trust, making it difficult for organizations to operate efficiently. As storage needs evolve and become more complex, a unified data management strategy becomes even more crucial. By addressing data silos, MSPs can help their clients unlock valuable insights, drive innovation and improve overall business performance.
How data silos hinder business growth for SMBs
Siloed data hinders collaboration, prevents smart decision-making, causes delays, reduces transparency and lowers team trust. Data silos create multiple challenges for your MSP clients and addressing these challenges with the right ERP solution is essential to saving them money and ensuring retention as a client when their contract comes up for renewal. SMBs in a variety of industries from manufacturing to e-commerce can benefit from an ERP solution.
These are just some of the challenges that data silos cause:
Hindered collaboration
Data silos significantly hinder collaboration within organizations by creating barriers to information sharing and communication. When storing data in isolated systems or departments, it’s challenging for teams to access the information they need to work effectively. This fragmentation reduces productivity and increases the risk of errors and inconsistencies in the data used.
Slower and less informed decision-making
When data isn’t centralized, decision-makers may struggle to make effective decisions. Siloed data leads to delays and costly mistakes based on incomplete or outdated information, reducing accuracy and effectiveness. Data silos reduce the ability to access advanced analytics and gain actionable insights. When data is not readily available or integrated, it becomes difficult to identify trends, patterns and correlations. This hinders a client’s ability to promptly respond to market changes, customer needs and emerging opportunities.
Duplication of effort
When data visibility and accessibility are low, different teams may unknowingly work on similar tasks or projects. This lack of visibility and communication leads to redundant work. For example, marketing and sales teams might independently gather and analyze customer data. Duplication of effort can also impact your client’s overall efficiency. When teams work in silos, it’s hard to coordinate activities and achieve common goals. This can lead to project delays, increased costs and missed innovation opportunities. By breaking down data silos and fostering a culture of open communication and information sharing in suitable ERP, organizations ensure their teams are working towards the same goals.
Increased operational costs
Data silos can lead to increased IT and maintenance costs. Managing multiple isolated systems requires more resources, including hardware, software and personnel. Each system may need its own set of updates, security measures and support. These can quickly add up. Integrating data from disparate systems is also complex and necessitates additional investments in data integration tools and services.
Benefits of integrating data with Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central
Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central offers a comprehensive solution to overcome the challenges caused by siloed data. Integrating various data sources provides a unified view of business operations. Key features such as real-time data access, automated workflows and advanced analytics streamline processes and improve decision-making.
Business Central gathers data from all company departments and stores it in a central, accessible database, empowering employees to be more efficient and make better decisions while giving business owners a 360-degree view of the company’s operations. This helps clients recognize and implement solutions to increase productivity and revenue.
Unified view of business operations
Integrating data with Business Central gives a unified view of business operations. By consolidating data from various sources into a single source of truth, MSPs can offer their clients a comprehensive overview of their business activities.
This unified view enables better decision-making, as all relevant information is readily accessible and up-to-date. Clients can monitor key performance indicators (KPIs), track progress and identify areas for improvement more effectively.
Real-time data access
One of the key benefits of Microsoft Business Central is real-time data access. This feature allows clients to access the most current information at any time, from anywhere. Real-time data access ensures that decisions are based on accurate and timely information, reducing the risk of errors and improving overall efficiency. Your clients can respond more quickly to market changes, customer needs and emerging opportunities.
Automated Workflows
Microsoft Business Central offers automated workflows that streamline business processes and decrease manual work. By automating routine tasks, clients can save time and resources. This frees up time for their employees to focus on more strategic activities. Automated workflows ensure consistency and accuracy in business operations. In other words, it reduces the likelihood of human errors. MSPs can leverage this feature to enhance their clients’ operational efficiency.
Advanced Analytics
Advanced analytics is another significant benefit of integrating data with Business Central. The platform provides powerful analytical tools that enable clients to gain deeper insights into their business performance.
With advanced analytics, clients can identify trends, patterns and correlations essential for informed decision-making. This capability helps clients optimize operations, improve customer satisfaction and drive growth.
AI-Powered Capabilities
Business Central includes AI-powered tools that enhance decision-making and operational efficiency. AI features such as Sales and Inventory Forecasting, Late Payment Predictions and Cash Flow Analysis help clients anticipate business challenges and make proactive decisions.
Enhanced Collaboration
Integrating data with Microsoft Business Central enhances collaboration across departments and teams. By breaking down data silos, the platform facilitates seamless information sharing and communication. This improved collaboration leads to better coordination, faster decision-making and more efficient project execution.
For MSPs, this means their clients can get all business functions working harmoniously within their organizations, ultimately leading to better business outcomes.
Improved Data Quality
Data quality is crucial for effective decision-making and business operations. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central helps improve data quality by providing data validation, cleansing and enrichment tools. Clients can make more reliable decisions and avoid costly mistakes by ensuring that data is accurate, complete and consistent.
Scalability and Flexibility
Microsoft Business Central is a scalable and flexible solution that can grow with clients’ businesses. The platform can easily accommodate increasing data volumes and evolving business needs.
Clients can customize and extend the platform to meet their requirements, ensuring it remains relevant and practical as their business evolves. For MSPs, this means that they can offer a future-proof solution to their clients, providing long-term value and support.
Integration with Other Microsoft Tools
Microsoft Business Central integrates with other Microsoft tools, such as Office 365 and Azure. This integration enhances productivity and streamlines operations by allowing clients to use familiar tools and interfaces and pull data across the Microsoft ecosystem.
This seamless integration reduces the need to switch between applications, saving time and reducing friction in business processes. MSPs can leverage this integration to offer their clients a comprehensive and cohesive solution.
Steps to help MSP clients overcome data silos
To assist clients in overcoming data silos, MSPs can follow a structured approach:
- Assess the current state of data management to identify existing silos and integration opportunities.
- Identify key data sources and integration points to ensure all relevant information is included.
- Develop a data integration strategy that outlines the steps and technologies needed for successful integration.
- Implement MS Business Central and integrate the identified data sources, ensuring seamless data flow.
- Monitor and optimize data integration processes to maintain data quality and address any issues promptly.
Best practices for data integration
Successful data integration requires adherence to best practices. MSPs should emphasize the importance of data governance and data quality management with their clients. Establishing clear data ownership, standardizing data formats and implementing robust security measures are essential. Regular audits and continuous improvement efforts will help maintain the integrity and reliability of integrated data.
Are you trying to determine if Business Central is the right solution for your MSP clients? An experienced partner can help.
Overcoming data silos is critical for MSP clients to give them access to better data and improve operational efficiency. Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central provides the tools needed to integrate data effectively, offering numerous benefits. MSPs should leverage this powerful platform to help their clients break down data silos and unlock their full potential.
As an award-winning Microsoft cloud solution provider partner, Sherweb has years of experience helping MSPs make the best choice for their clients and we can help you decide if Business Central is the right fit for your clients’ needs.
Contact us to start a conversation, or check out our partner guide for more information about how we can help your business grow.
