The core structure of most businesses is changing. Small businesses aim to be acquired. Medium-sized businesses have a legacy of half-absorbed acquisitions and prior entities. Even enterprise corporations regularly buy out smaller companies and have small pockets of knowledge that haven't been captured in corporate procedures. But relying on senior employees and people with tribal knowledge from the other companies is a short-term proposition. And having scattered software experts is just as dangerous.

What can you do to make sure crucial knowledge doesn't leave the company with the next former employee?

You can't have singular experts who know the minutia of a business critical program. If only one employee holds the keys to your custom finance software or only one employee remains from when the archiving system was first coded, then the first step is to transfer assets to more universalized software. Instead of holding onto a program that has spiraled off from once industry-standard coding, use modern software that is modular so it can be customized in blocks and with more intuitive edit options. Switching software while it's important but not yet urgent guarantees the best accuracy and the best long-term benefits.

Aside from switching out your software solutions, switch up your departments. With the rise of popularity in Salesforce across businesses of all sizes, most companies made an ad hoc adjustment to make a 'Salesforce department.' Whether they call it Sales Operations or Salesforce Administration, its purpose is clear. But instead of having a department that just focuses on the ins and outs of one program (no matter how important), start to transform it into a department that knows how programs at their core work. There should always be people in your office who have an overview of how information transfers from department to department and can troubleshoot problems by knowing the friction points between systems. 

Simplifying businesses can be hard at any scale. But breaking down your legacy programs core processes and making sure minutia won't hold back long-term progress is essential. Go to folio1 to find the tools to build out better functionality.