When everyone was asked to pivot their operations and move their workforce online, who did they turn to for help? IT.

At times, IT departments can become a catch-all. They understand the unique nature of different processes and have the technical background to operate them. Sometimes, the projects are part of their role, but in this climate, when people are forced to be more reactive than planned, IT is taking on a brunt of extra work.

The Good and The Challenging

For years, most CIO’s and IT departments have been pushing for a more digital ecosystem and the go-ahead to create one. With digital really being the only route to take right now, they are getting their wish.

However, the more digital you become, the more flaws you find in your processes. Automation has a tendency to point out redundancies, flag errors, and shed light on security issues. So how do you solve these?

Data consolidation is the process of combining all of your critical data from different platforms, formats, and locations into a secure single centralized database. By eliminating multiple points of data storage and connecting everything into one integrated system, you can continue to scale your growing digital infrastructure without the risks.

How Data Consolidation Works

There are a few ways to tackle a data consolidation process and the right choice for your organization really comes down to resources. Historically, IT teams would focus on manually hard coding the data and migrating files piece by piece. While it does have the added benefit of being owned in-house, appearing more transparent, it is time-consuming and expensive, requiring you to invest in pricey infrastructure.

The modern route to data consolidation lives with the cloud. Leveraging a cloud-based service lowers costs, increases flexibility, and can be done as quickly as you need it. As IT is continuing to manage its rapidly increasing workload, keeping companies running in uncertain times, cloud migration services can handle the consolidation.

Leveraging Centralized Data 

Once your data is living in an automated digital ecosystem, IT departments can leverage that to further connect employees to their data. You can begin migrating away from other legacy databases, add more controls on who can access what resources, and keep information consistent across the enterprise, even if that enterprise is currently being run from a small kitchen table.

While office spaces may look different and teams may be pushing through new obstacles, this time presents a unique opportunity to jump on long intended digital journeys and see what they can create. The first step is getting started and data consolidation is the key to removing silos and connecting the workforce.