Career / Management

A Step-by-Step Guide to Effective IT Success Planning

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Published on May 5, 2025

IT departments don’t have the luxury of hitting pause. Servers crash, software updates need deploying, cyber threats evolve daily, and someone’s got to keep the lights on. 

But what happens when your lead network administrator retires unexpectedly? Or when your cybersecurity manager takes a job elsewhere, taking years of institutional knowledge with them? That’s where IT succession planning comes in.

Why Succession Planning is Crucial for IT Departments

Between burnout, job-hopping, and early retirements, IT departments are no strangers to turnover. Without a solid plan in place, the departure of even one key team member can send shockwaves through operations.

Here’s why succession planning should be at the top of your IT strategy list:

  • Change is Relentless: New tools, platforms, and security risks show up constantly. You can’t afford a knowledge gap when key players leave.

  • Turnover is the Norm: The tech industry sees some of the highest turnover rates of any sector. Waiting until someone leaves to think about a replacement is a recipe for chaos.

  • Business Continuity Depends on IT: From keeping data flowing to protecting infrastructure, IT plays a mission-critical role. Gaps in leadership or expertise can ripple across the entire organization.

  • Resilience Requires Foresight: Retirement, illness, resignations—unexpected exits are inevitable. Planning ahead ensures your team can adapt without missing a beat.

How to Identify Critical IT Roles and Skills in IT for Succession Planning

The first step in building an effective succession plan is identifying which roles and skills are too important to leave to chance. Start by defining the essential positions that keep your IT engine running. These often include:

  • IT Managers and Directors: The glue that holds it all together—responsible for team performance, budget oversight, and strategic planning.

  • Cybersecurity Leads: As security threats grow more sophisticated, these experts play a vital role in protecting your digital assets.

  • Network Administrators and Architects: Without them, your infrastructure falls apart. Literally.

Once you’ve identified these roles, map out the skills and knowledge required to do them well. Think technical competencies, leadership abilities, certifications, and even familiarity with legacy systems or homegrown tools.

Then, prioritize the positions that would create the biggest disruption if left unfilled. These are your succession planning hot spots.

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How to Assess Current Talent and Future Needs

With your critical roles in hand, it’s time to turn the mirror on your current team. Start by conducting a skills inventory—a snapshot of who knows what, who’s good at what, and who’s ready for more. This can be as simple as a spreadsheet or as formal as a talent management system.

Next, identify high-potential employees. These are the folks who show initiative, solve complex problems, and play well with others. Look for readiness indicators like project leadership, certifications earned, or a demonstrated appetite for upskilling

Don’t forget to look forward. Future tech trends—like AI, automation, or cloud-native infrastructure—will impact what skills your team needs. Succession planning isn’t just about who can step up now; it’s also about who’s preparing for what’s next.

How to Develop an IT Succession Plan

Step 1: Create Clear Job Profiles

Start by outlining what success looks like in each key role. This means understanding and documenting: 

  •  A detailed list of core job responsibilities 

  • Tools, platforms, etc., required to do the job

  • The technical skills and soft skills required to do the job well 

  • Required experience or certifications needed

  • Expected outcomes and/or specific KPIs

The clearer you are about what you need, the easier it will be to find and prepare the right candidate to fill the role. 

Step 2: Establish a Talent Pipeline

You’ve probably heard it’s easier to find a job when you already have one. For IT team leads the same logic applies here: it’s easier to find a replacement before you urgently need one.

To improve your IT succession plan, identify a pipeline of talent that can fill each role. Start by identifying internal candidates who could fill the role with coaching or mentorship, then set up programs to help them grow and earn real-world experience. 


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To build an external talent pipeline, stay active in tech communities—think GitHub, Stack Overflow, and LinkedIn groups—and build relationships with promising professionals. You can also partner with universities or boot camps to connect with up-and-coming talent before they hit the job market. 

Step 3: Cross-Train Existing Employees

IT teams are notorious for silos—one person knows the firewall inside and out, someone else is the only one who can fix the database, and heaven help you if either of them takes a vacation. Cross-training breaks down those silos and makes your department way more resilient.

Start by identifying where single points of failure exist. If only one person knows how to maintain a key system, that's a red flag. Encourage job shadowing, role rotation, or even having team members lead internal "lunch and learn" sessions to teach others how their tools and processes work. Pair people up to trade responsibilities periodically—network team with sysadmins, help desk with security, etc.

Cross-training helps people see the bigger picture, which improves collaboration and often sparks new ideas. It also reduces burnout—when folks know they’re not the only ones carrying the load, they’re less likely to feel overworked. 

Step 4: Outline Transition Strategies

Succession isn’t just about naming a backup—it’s about making transitions smooth, sustainable, and ideally, boring (because everything goes so smoothly).

That starts with documentation, which should be an ongoing part of every critical IT role— not a frantic scramble the week someone gives notice. Build and maintain living documents that include:

  • Key processes and workflows

  • System login credentials (stored securely, of course)

  • Vendor contacts and contract details

  • Project timelines, status updates, and lessons learned

And if someone’s about to leave? Assign a buddy, schedule overlap time, and prioritize communication.

When a transition is on the horizon, don’t wait until the exit interview to start knowledge transfer. Pair the outgoing employee with a teammate for some hands-on shadowing. Give them overlapping time to walk through daily tasks, answer questions, and flag anything weird or undocumented. 

Most importantly, encourage open communication—no assumption is too small to clarify. The goal is to make handoffs as seamless as possible, whether the exit is planned or not. When knowledge transfer is baked into your IT culture, change becomes manageable instead of messy.

Conclusion

Succession planning doesn't feel urgent—until it does. For IT departments, where even minor disruptions can have big consequences, preparing now means fewer headaches later. Following our step-by-step IT succession plan will ensure that your team remains stable, resilient, and ready, no matter who moves on.

The best time to build a succession plan was yesterday. The second-best time? Today. So look at your org chart, start those conversations, and invest in your team’s future now.

Ready to Take Your IT Team to the Next Level?

If you’re looking for more tips, templates, and tools to build a stronger, more resilient team, check our CBT Nugget IT manager resources.


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