Companies spend nearly a third of IT budgets on software upgrades

Summarised from TechRadar's report · Updated 20 Oct, 11:50 · Archive

Enterprises are spending around one-third of IT budgets on vendor-driven software upgrades they would not have otherwise chosen.

Enterprises are spending roughly one-third of their IT budgets on software upgrades imposed by vendors rather than chosen by the business itself, according to research from Origina. The report found that 28% of large enterprise IT budgets go to vendor-driven changes. More than four in five companies report that senior engineering staff regularly spend time on these upgrades instead of more valuable work. Nearly all organisations have retired fully functional hardware in the past three years simply to comply with software vendor support deadlines.

Most firms feel trapped by their software vendors. Eighty per cent said that leaving a major software vendor would cause widespread disruption, while 78% agree that vendors dictate the timing and terms of changes. Three-quarters report having very little negotiating power. James McGlennon, former Liberty Mutual CIO and Origina board member, described the pattern as 'a recurring drag on capacity' that prevents businesses from investing in work that actually differentiates them.

Read the report

• Companies are spending nearly a third of IT budgets on software upgradesSoftware isn't just about a one-time purchase or an ongoing subscription – frequent updates are costing money and time.TechRadar · 20 Oct, 10:21

In this story: Origina · Liberty Mutual · James McGlennon

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