How to Leverage Data Sharing to Make Better Business Decisions at Scale

Data is a key component in today’s business landscape. For your company to compete effectively, you need timely and accurate data about your competitors and the current market conditions. According to McKinsey, by 2025 nearly all employees will “leverage data to support their work.“

However, for insights to be meaningful, data must be shared throughout the entire organization. Business leaders should dismantle data silos across their organizations and make information available to all departments as well as relevant third-party partners. Moreover, organizations need to provide employees with the tools to analyze, interpret, and apply these insights to decision-making.

This article examines how businesses can leverage data sharing to make informed decisions.

What Is Data Sharing?

Data sharing involves granting access to data resources to various parties—be they individuals, multiple business units within a company, or third-party partners. By implementing a data-sharing policy, businesses can transfer and exchange data to enhance collaboration and data-driven decision-making.

The significance of this practice lies in its ability to prevent data from remaining isolated within a singular team or department. Here are some key benefits of data sharing:

• It promotes cross-departmental collaborative efforts. For example, the marketing team can access inventory and purchasing data when making decisions related to customer order follow-ups or when designing campaigns.
• Company analysts benefit from comprehensive information access. Centralized data access simplifies performance assessment. For instance, an analyst isn’t restricted to data from one department when generating critical results.
• Enterprises can bolster risk mitigation efforts. With data from all departments at their fingertips, it becomes simpler to identify weaknesses and areas requiring improvement. For example, if your organization incurs a loss in a particular year, the accessible data can guide adjustments in the subsequent year.

4 Ways to Leverage Data Sharing for Better Decision Making

As a company owner, you have the unique opportunity to revolutionize your organization through data sharing. Here’s how you can make informed decisions:

1. Eliminate Data Silos: Disconnected data across departments hinders your organization from making strategic business decisions. Data silos curtail accessibility and impede collaboration. For instance, when data is isolated, marketing departments relying on it to generate sales leads and craft campaigns can’t achieve their objectives. Centralizing your data removes these barriers, ensuring everyone can easily access and analyze the information.
2. Select the Right Tools for Data Analysis: Once you’ve centralized your data, the next step is analysis. Equip your team with tools that transform data into actionable insights. Tools like Semrush or Google Analytics can help maximize the benefits of marketing data from past campaigns. Additionally, developers can construct custom data pipelines that streamline the data transfer process, ensuring its ready availability for further analysis.
3. Establish a Unified Data Access and Governance System: While centralizing data promotes better decision-making, it also demands rigorous security measures. Implement access control measures to determine who can view or utilize company data, ensuring only authorized individuals have access. Governance policies should clearly define data flow. For instance, research data from the IT department should only be accessible to department heads, key managers, and other pertinent stakeholders.
4. Embrace Cloud-Centric Tools: As of 2022, statistics indicate that 60% of corporate data is housed in the cloud. Leveraging cloud-based data management fosters an efficient data-sharing ecosystem. Beyond just storage benefits, cloud services also offer robust data protection measures. Consider data lake repositories in cloud storage for an organized approach, possibly implementing a hybrid system where sensitive data is stored on the cloud, while other data remains on-premises. Regardless of the chosen setup, always prioritize proper access permissions.

Conclusion

Effective data sharing enhances collaboration and deepens the understanding of customers, markets, and trends. But for optimum results, businesses must integrate cutting-edge technologies like machine learning. Such advancements enable companies to leverage data for sustained growth. The integration of machine learning not only streamlines processes and spurs product development but also fosters a tailored experience for customers and stakeholders alike.