The Price of the Silo: How Monetizing Data Can Finally Bring People Together

Every organisation has its silos. Some are built from legacy systems, some from politics, some from fear—and some simply from habit.

But if you listen closely, you’ll notice something interesting about these silos: they’re full of treasure. Hidden, dusty, unloved treasure.

Data.

The challenge isn’t just getting to it. The challenge is convincing the people guarding those silos that the data inside is worth sharing.And maybe—just maybe—that it’s worth something to them, too.

This is a story about how organisations move from hoarding data to monetising it, and how paying data owners can be the key that finally unlocks the vault.

Act 1: “Can I Have Your Data?” - The Question Nobody Likes

Imagine walking up to a team who owns a critical source system—finance, HR, operations, engineering—and saying:

“Can you give me all your data? We’d like to do something useful with it.”

You can already predict the reaction:

• “That’ll create work.”

• “It might expose issues.”

• “We don’t have the time.”

• “What’s in it for us?”

And honestly? They're not wrong.

Extracting data does create work. It can expose problems. It will take time.For years, the only counterargument has been: “But it's good for the company.”

That's noble. But “good for the company” rarely pays down a team’s backlog.

So here’s a better approach:

Pay them. Not as a bribe. As a business model.

Act 2: The Shift - Treating Data Like a Product

Data monetization isn’t new, tech giants have turned data into gold for years.

Companies like Amazon, Google, and major healthcare players have used customer and operational data to create new revenue streams and measurable financial gains.And Uber—one of the most data‑rich companies on the planet—turns geospatial and behavioural data into optimised routes, dynamic pricing, and even advertising revenue.

If these companies can monetise their data externally, why can’t internal teams monetise theirs within an organisation?

Think of it as internal data monetization:

• Source systems own high‑value assets.

• Central analytics teams need those assets.

• Value is created when the two come together.

• So the owners get rewarded for enabling that value.

It’s not politics—it’s economics.

Act 3: Giving Teams a Reason to Care

Here’s where the story gets interesting.

When an organisation puts real money, actual budget, behind data quality and access, behaviours change almost overnight.

Suddenly:

• Data owners want to understand the value of what they hold.

• They’re motivated to improve data quality (because better data = bigger budget reward).

• They're more open to collaboration.

• And they're more accountable for the data lifecycle, because it now affects their resources.

This mirrors what top‑performing organisations do.Research from MIT CISR found that high‑performers attribute 11% of their revenue to data monetization—five times more than low‑performers—and that success is driven by strong data value management and lifecycle oversight.

When people know their data is valuable—and that they will share in that value—they transform from gatekeepers into partners.

Act 4: How Paying Data Owners Can Actually Work

Here’s a simple model that works in practice:

1. Establish “data products” coming from each silo

Once a dataset is treated like a product, it becomes something people can invest in, improve, and take pride in.

2. Assign value to each data product

Value can be based on:

• Impact on business outcomes

• Use in revenue‑generating initiatives

• Reduction in operational cost

• Number of downstream consumers

3. Fund the data owners

Not as a one‑off payment, but as:

• Extra headcount budget

• Funding for system upgrades

• Money for automation

• Bonuses for quality improvement milestones

Teams stop seeing data extraction as “lost time” and start seeing it as “gained budget.”

4. Make the funding increase with improvement

High‑quality, well‑governed, easy‑to‑consume data products earn more.Low‑quality ones… don’t.

Now the incentives align.

Act 5: Real‑World Inspiration

Here’s how some big players demonstrate the idea of data monetization in ways organisations can model internally:

Uber

Internally monetises its data to reduce costs, optimise logistics, and create new business lines like Uber Freight and Uber Eats. These efficiencies turn data into direct financial returns.

Healthcare & Wearables (Fitbit, Flatiron Health)

These companies create revenue from behavioural and clinical data—demonstrating the financial power of consistent, high‑quality data streams.

Retail & Finance Data Partnerships

Retailers share data with partners to create new monetizable insights. This mirrors the idea of internal data sharing between business units.

Wolters Kluwer

A powerful case of building an organisation around data value, attributing a significant portion of revenue to expert data analytics solutions.

These examples show that when data creates real value, people invest in it.Inside a business, the same rule applies.

Final Act: Breaking the Silo Isn’t the Goal. Rewarding It Is

Silos don’t vanish because we ask nicely.They don’t vanish because of policies.They don’t vanish because “data should be shared.”

Silos vanish when:

• Data owners feel rewarded, not punished.

• Quality becomes a source of pride, not a liability.

• Sharing becomes profitable, not painful.

Monetization isn’t just about money. It’s about signalling that data matters—and that the people who create, protect, and maintain it matter too.

When you pay data owners, you show them that they’re not just part of the data pipeline.They’re part of the value chain.

And that’s when the silos finally open.