Single Source of Truth
Single Source of Truth Definition
Single Source of Truth (SSoT) is a method for collecting and aggregating data from across the business into a centralized repository. That way, members of the organization can make more suitable decisions by having a comprehensive view of what the customers’ needs represent and what is the impact of each department’s activities.
Here’s an example.
Let’s say the marketing team keeps data on their social media followers and that can help the product team to understand who they are designing for. These insights can also help the sales teams to better understand their customers’ needs in order to solve underlying pain points. Usually, this follower data isn’t accessible in datasets stored by sales enablement platforms or by email distribution. However, by establishing a Single Source of Truth, all teams can use this information.
Why is it important to have a Single Source of Truth?
The larger the business, the harder it can for teams to work together. Each department will have its own goals, understanding, and perspective of a project. Team training and alignment can feel like an endless process, especially when teams change, new members come, and old members leave.
Misinformation is the enemy number one in any product-driven company. Realistically, not everyone on the project will remember all requirements, procedural steps, and all the moving parts of the development stage. And when issues arise because of misinformation, the consequences can be costly.
When a company has an established Single Source of Truth — containing all essential info pertaining to a project — it becomes much easier to double-check or answer a query. Having this reference to go back to ensures that misinformation rarely takes place.
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