This has been rattling around in my head, and today while talking about organizational structures, it solidified.
Start with looking at what a grain silo does. It keeps a product segregated from other similar products, keeps it clean and dry and makes it ready to be dispensed as needed.
How is this different from data? It’s not. One type of data (say, info on your shoppers) is kept in a single repository. It’s kept in good order, updated and indexed to make sure it works right and is fresh.
But let’s talk about that dispensing a bit more. You’ll note that grain elevators are pretty much always a series of silos. Many of these carry different products, and any one truck can pull up and ask for their own mix of grain for their feedlot, farm or bakery.
You can do the same. Simply mix the data yourself into the product you need for your application, your service or your customers. The same can happen with any other silo analogy you may encounter; teams from different organizations can contribute members to a single project, in the needed ratios, without changing the overall structure of the company.
So that’s what I realized. That the silo model is too accurate, so there’s no point in wishing for something better. Embrace the analogy and solve these issues with your existing information, tools and knowhow.