By Marco Afonso, Business Development Specialist at Insight Consulting
In July, a mid-sized South African business lost one of its most experienced employees. The impact was catastrophic. Not because of his seniority, but because he was the only one who knew how everything worked. Systems, processes, and compliance routines were all inside his head, underscoring the company’s internal fragility thanks to undocumented processes.
This wasn’t an isolated case. Many companies struggle with having their operational knowledge scattered or inaccessible, often written in personal notebooks or stored on individual desktops or held in the memory of key employees. The human dependency risk is a very real challenge because when people leave, they take with them a significant chunk of institutional knowledge.
The impact is twofold. On one hand, the lack of centralised and accessible knowledge impacts productivity and operational efficiencies. According to a Pyron and Unisphere Research study, 70% of respondents spent an average of one hour looking for information – 23% spent more than five hours.
On the other hand, it has a direct impact on how well a company can embark on a cohesive AI strategy. The SAP AI Skills Development in Africa report found that up to 90% of companies surveyed were feeling the impact of a lack of AI skills and accessible knowledge. The result is a brittle business model, vulnerable not just to malicious actors but to attrition, burnout, retirement, or human error.
Siloed systems. Siloed people.
The second challenge most companies face when moving towards digital strategies and transformation is siloed IP. Efficiencies are fractured because data and critical knowledge are hidden in documents, desktops and minds. Knowledge is held by individuals, processes differ across teams and data lives in disconnected tools. This level of dependency often emerges during onboarding when new employees can’t find what they need, in audits when compliance steps have no paper trail, or when there’s a crisis.
When knowledge sits across siloes, it creates both inefficiencies and risk. Without documentation, knowledge is provisional, and without a shared system, data is vulnerable. These are the types of operational failure that tend to stop companies in their tracks and highlights one of the biggest business risks – what’s missing within it.
This leads to the third obstacle companies face when dealing with digital transformation – security. Many small to mid-sized companies still believe they are safer managing their cybersecurity in-house, when in reality, internal threats and poor documentation are far more dangerous.
Most malicious activity is often within the internal infrastructure of the company, where you can lose everything due to a fragmented knowledge architecture. When critical records and business processes are locked in siloes, guarded by employees who are considered too valuable to lose, your business is exposed.
Transformation needs data fluency
One of the most overlooked barriers to digital transformation is data fluency. The ability to read, question and use data effectively is essential for the modern business. You need to be able to have conversations about data and understand what you’re looking at and why it matters. And it’s not just a challenge faced by small to medium companies – even large, well-resourced companies are struggling.
Having access to data and understanding the value of that access are two parts of the same coin. The goal is to find a way of turning your untapped, siloed data into an asset with employees and systems that are fluent in its usage. It allows you to move away from the idea of digital transformation as a buzzword that talks about systems, data, and processes and instead becomes a lived reality within the business that is sustainable and invaluable.
The success of this approach can be seen in companies that have revolutionised legacy systems and approaches to become leaders in their respective markets. Think Checkers Sixty60, which has changed how retail does business across the country. Data fluency has been a central driver in the success and growth of the Sixty60 story, underpinning the implementation of its digital strategy and shaping Shoprite Group’s position as an industry innovator.Sixty60’s rapid rollout and evolution have been powered by an advanced use of data science, machine learning, and analytics, enabling highly efficient, personalised, and responsive operations.
As digital strategies and transformations become increasingly entrenched and essential, companies don’t need to get lost in the hype. A successful transformation is one that focuses on internal upskilling, shared knowledge and data, connected systems, and teams that are fluent in data. The most effective strategies engage all employees, focus on change management and internal champions, and reframe control. Many companies resist transformation because they feel they are giving up ownership, but in fact, digital centralisation and visibility return their control.
