Breaking Free From the 90/10 Model: How to Invest More in Digital Transformation

Megavendors lock down IT support budgets. Here’s how to take back control.

IT spending continues to rise year after year, yet many enterprises are still struggling to fund innovation. According to Omdia, global IT investment opportunities are projected to grow from $5.06 trillion in 2024 to $8.2 trillion by 2031. With so much money being allocated to IT, you’d expect organizations to be accelerating digital transformation.

But too often, that investment gets locked into outdated vendor support models that drain budgets and slow progress. This imbalance is often called the 90/10 split: 90% of IT budgets consumed by keeping existing systems running, leaving only 10% for the strategic initiatives CEOs and boards are demanding.

Why vendor support falls short

Vendor policies and support models continue to squeeze IT budgets. Upgrades are marketed as necessary improvements but rarely deliver meaningful innovation. Instead, they serve to keep customers locked into higher fees. Legacy systems see minimal advancement, yet failing to upgrade means losing access to vendor support. For IBM products, for example, once a version reaches end of support, tickets can no longer be logged. The result: enterprises trapped in costly, recurring upgrade cycles they may not need—just to maintain support coverage.

Rebalancing IT budgets for digital transformation

The goal is to shift from a 90% operation / 10% innovation split to a more balanced 60% for ongoing operations and enhancements, and 40% for digital initiatives.

McKinsey’s latest research underscores the potential of this shift: organizations with top-tier IT productivity report up to 35% more revenue growth and 10% higher profit margins. On average, companies could optimize—and reinvest—around 30% of their IT spend by focusing on productivity improvements

Our guide, “Budgeting in Turbulent Times: A guide to cost optimization,” includes three practical strategies to help organizations reduce unnecessary spend, improve budget predictability, and free resources for innovation. These approaches can put your company firmly on the road to digital transformation and help you take back control of your IT roadmap.

Ready to rebalance your IT budget? Download “Budgeting in Turbulent Times: A guide to cost optimization” and see how to free resources for innovation while taking back control of your IT roadmap.