Thursday, August 17, 2006
Information silos
What is an information silo? It is a structure that contains the data, processing and interface for a particular system. They are built to address a specific need, such as track sales, customers or inventory, and usually do that task very well. However, there are three problems with information silos:
- They are limited to what they have been designed to do.
- Their use is limited to their built-in interfaces.
- They do not interoperate with other systems.
The recurring theme is that an information silo is limited by the imagination and abilities of its designers – it cannot surpass the vision of its creators. A data system is not like a building or a bridge – it need to be flexible. Users may want a different interface or require additional functionality than what was planned for. The data contained in an information silo may be needed in other applications or systems.
Users can usually cope with data silos by copying data from one application and pasting it into another. This is inefficient and covers up shortcomings of the original design.
Labels: Observations
