What is a single source of truth in business?

One agreed place where a given fact, a customer, an order, a metric, officially lives, that every system and person reads from.

How do you create one?

Decide which system owns each important piece of data, make everything else reference it, and remove the duplicate, conflicting copies.

← Glossary

Operations & process

Single Source of Truth

Also known as: SSOT

A single source of truth is one authoritative place where a given piece of information officially lives, that every system and person reads from.

Key takeaways

A single source of truth is one authoritative place a piece of information officially lives.
It ends the arguments that happen when teams each believe different numbers.
Most data problems are really process problems about who owns the truth.

When sales, finance and operations each believe a different version of the numbers, decisions slow down while people argue about whose figures are right. A single source of truth ends that: for each important thing, there is one place it lives, and everything else references it.

Most "we have a data problem" conversations are really a process problem about ownership of the truth. See why your tools do not talk to each other.

Commonly confused with

Systems integration

Integration connects systems so they can share one source of truth. The source of truth is the agreed authoritative place.

Frequently asked

What is a single source of truth in business?: One agreed place where a given fact, a customer, an order, a metric, officially lives, that every system and person reads from.
How do you create one?: Decide which system owns each important piece of data, make everything else reference it, and remove the duplicate, conflicting copies.

Something in your operations is costing you. Let's fix it.

A 30-minute call, no pitch. Tell me what's breaking and I'll tell you straight whether I can help.

Book a call contact@dhruvit.me