Survey of 2,018 CIOs records 28 percent software budget share on upgrades rated detrimental by IT leaders

Censuswide polled 2,018 CIOs and senior IT decision-makers at firms with at least 10,000 employees and $1 billion revenue, half in the US. Ninety-five percent reported paying for at least one such change in the past three years; 53 percent reported multiple instances. Seventy-six percent stated their organizations hold very little leverage in negotiations, and 80 percent said departure from major vendors would cause significant disruption. The Origina-commissioned report frames independent maintenance as an alternative but supplies no adoption metrics.

Data patterns align with documented vendor-lock-in dynamics observed in prior maintenance studies. When support termination is the only alternative, procurement teams treat forced upgrades as operational insurance rather than discretionary spend. This produces measurable budget leakage without corresponding technical gain and diverts engineering cycles from projects that would otherwise receive funding.

Operationally, the 28 percent figure indicates procurement processes remain subordinated to support continuity rather than performance criteria. Firms that quantify support-end dates and third-party maintenance pricing earlier in budget cycles can reduce exposure. Absent contractual changes or regulatory scrutiny on maintenance pricing, the same allocation ratio is likely to recur in subsequent fiscal years.