Originally posted on https://www.vaporware.net/blog/breakdown-info-silos-with-single-pane-of-glass

What does it take to get work done in an all-electronic world? An ever-growing selection of web apps and dashboards brings us a specialized tool for every task. We should be rolling in productivity gains. But how much time are we really saving? Hopping from tool to tool, each with a separate login and disparate data, brings its own set of challenges.

In the IT arena, especially managed services, enterprise and reseller customers alike have access to a growing arsenal of tools to support their data centers. Purchased resources, workload health, real-time and historical usage, security threats, account information, billing and support to name a few. It’s not uncommon for an administrator to log into several different dashboards to get the full story. The data is there, but without a consolidated view, valuable time is wasted hunting for insights.

In the enterprise world, siloed data is the norm. Business intelligence is often delivered via departmental spreadsheets, meticulously massaged with custom macros, cross-tab calculations, filtering, sorting and charts, then rolled up into a consolidated report for executive review. This key data is usually distributed as an email attachment. Customer accounts and contacts are often duplicated across the CRM and ERP system, with no real source of truth. Voice of the customer (VOC), used to inform new product development, is found across individual emails between subject matter experts in sales, marketing or product management.

Indeed, data disparity and information silos plague organizations of all sizes. There is a proven solution…

Single Pane of Glass

Also called a unified dashboard or customer portal, the Single Pane of Glass (SPOG) provides one view to disconnected data sources. With single sign-on (SSO), every user has a complete view of their data. Secure, cloud-based implementation results in a single point of truth for easier decision making.

Organizations across industries are enjoying the many benefits of SPOG from both internal and external perspectives.

• Managed Service Providers (MSPs) are able to productize their services, enabling repeat sales of defined packages.
• MSPs are rolling out new Service Level Agreements (SLAs) based on factors such as risk avoidance and performance guarantees.
• Cloud service resellers can upsell easier by identifying potential capacity risks.
• Companies seeking investment capital or acquisition are at an advantage with impressive metrics around operational efficiency and automation of services.
• Unified customer experience is a market differentiator, with a positive impact on reputation and customer satisfaction.
• Users of a SPOG platform have full access to their data from anywhere, even on mobile devices.

Feel free to reach out and discuss how you may immediately benefit from a centralized view of your data.