GoKawiilSurvey: CIOs say enterprise software vendors dictate upgrade timing and costs
A Censuswide survey of 2,018 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers in the US and UK, commissioned by Origina, found organisations spend nearly $13m on supplier-driven upgrades, with 28% of enterprise software budgets going toward upgrades, migrations and licensing changes they did not choose to make. The findings, published in Origina's 'The Software Tax' report with Thinkers50, show 78% of respondents say their primary vendor sets the timing and terms of change, 76% report little negotiating leverage, and 80% say switching suppliers would cause major disruption.
GoKawiil's interpretation of the reporting above, not reported fact.
The data suggests that once organisations commit to a major enterprise software platform, control over cost and timing effectively shifts from buyer to vendor, a dynamic Boston University professor Marshall Van Alstyne attributes to 'relationship-specific investments' that give vendors leverage no contract can fully offset. Origina CEO Tomás O'Leary frames this as evidence that even sophisticated IT buyers have little real choice, which could fuel demand for independent software maintenance and support as an alternative to vendor-led upgrade cycles.
- Organisations spend about $13m on average on supplier-driven upgrades, per the survey.
- 28% of enterprise software budgets go toward changes vendors initiate rather than customers.
- Roughly 78-80% of CIOs report minimal leverage or disruption-free ability to switch providers.
Source: it.slashdot.org — Posted, 2026-10-25
Published there as: “CIOs Admit They Are Being Forced To Upgrade Enterprise IT”
Read the original report → The summary and analysis above are GoKawiil's own, written from reporting by the source above. Facts and quotes belong to the original publisher.