Succession Isn’t Just a People Problem, It’s a Platform Risk

One resignation. Twenty years of undocumented knowledge. A system nobody else can run.

You don’t need a cyberattack to go down. Sometimes, all it takes is losing the wrong person. For many growing businesses, the real risk isn’t in technology failure; it’s in knowledge fragility.

The Hidden Risk in Your Org Chart

Most leadership teams associate succession planning with C-suite roles. But the bigger threat often lies deeper, buried in a dependency on one or two individuals who quietly keep critical systems, processes, or customer relationships alive.

According to PwC’s 2023 Private Company Survey, 70% of private businesses have no formal succession plan. And for those with legacy platforms or hybrid infrastructure, it’s not uncommon to find one person holding everything together, from server configs to integration logic to undocumented workarounds.

Lose them, and the outage isn’t temporary; it’s operational.

Legacy Systems and the ‘Tribal Knowledge’ Trap

As companies digitise or migrate to new platforms, the focus often shifts to new tools, vendors, or cloud providers. But in reality, much of the business still depends on undocumented systems, and the one or two people who understand them.

Transformation doesn’t eliminate this risk; it increases it.

You end up running both old and new in parallel, with fragile dependencies no one fully owns. The person who can explain how the CRM talks to the ERP, or why that finance tool must be updated manually once a week, may be a few months from leaving or a few weeks from burning out.

And once they’re gone, there’s no reboot button.

What CEOs Can Do Before It’s Too Late

This is not a technical problem; it’s an execution one.

If you’re a CEO preparing for platform change or considering a post-acquisition integration, succession needs to be reframed, from a long-term HR strategy to a short-term execution risk.

Start with three simple moves:

• Identify your knowledge bottlenecks. Where do key processes or systems depend on one individual?

• Treat knowledge capture like a migration. Document what matters, create shadow roles, and ensure onboarding is built around continuity, not just culture.

• Bring in transformation leadership to bridge the gap. Interim CTOs or platform leaders can act as a force multiplier, mapping the risk, enabling transitions, and handing over a more resilient system.

You don't need a new system to start; you need visibility.

Key Takeaway

Succession isn’t about titles; it’s about protecting your operational core from hidden fragility. One resignation shouldn’t threaten your ability to serve customers or close the books!

If you’re unsure where your business is vulnerable, start with an independent execution review.

As part of a due diligence assessment, these critical bottlenecks tend to surface fast; whether it’s undocumented systems, over-reliance on a single expert, or fragile knowledge transfer practices.

I offer a focused 4-week assessment across product, platform, and people that identifies these issues and more before they become expensive problems.

📩 Contact michael@theimpactcto.com to learn more.