Decoding Silos

Software organizations are not immune to silos, despite their deep technological focus. I have heard silos being attributed to be a people trait, but is it ? Or is it organizational culture trait ?

Communication Silos: A product marketing campaign is created without consulting the software engineering team. It promises features which are not deliverable in stipulated time. Outcome is a tarnished brand and unhappy customers. Remember Kodak ?

Organizational Silos: In large software engineering and product organizations teams drift away giving rise to lack of understanding about what other teams might be working on. You get duplicate efforts, inefficient use of resources e.g. cloud VMs doing same base builds of SDKs for two different teams.

Information Silos: Every functional team uses different tools to track and manage their activities causing fragmentation which can lead to poor view of operations and hinder decision-making.

Product Silos: Different departments work independently, each developing their own operating systems e.g. This lack of collaboration leads to a disjointed product offering, allowing competitors foot in the door. Remember how Nokia fell behind at onset of smartphone era?

Data Silos: Organizations often face challenges when different teams use separate apps and systems, leading to inconsistent or duplicate data within the organization. This can result in reduced collaboration, inefficiencies, and data integrity problems.

Do you see silos around you ?