Lack of maintenance costs business billions
IT debt will rise through the $500 million barrier by 2015, according to Gartner.

Global IT debt has risen to record levels and will reach $500 billion (320 billion) this year, a Gartner study has disclosed.
Shrinking IT budgets in a cash-strapped economy has driven IT departments to cut back on maintenance projects, such as software refreshes and hardware upgrades. This contributed to Gartner's definition of IT debt, which is the cost that would be incurred to bring corporate technology investments up to date.
"Over the last decade, CIOs have frequently seen IT budgets held tight or even reduced," said Andy Kyte, vice president and Gartner fellow.
"The reaction has been to still deliver quality of service for operational services and to use any potential project spend to deliver new functionality to the rest of the business."
This has made routine upgrading a poor cousin to services expansion. Kyte said he agreed this was acceptable for one or two years but claimed for many companies it has persisted a lot longer and created a damaging backlog.
The Gartner report, Measure and Manage Your IT Debt, did not predict any improvements and, if current trends continue, estimated the debt would rise to a trillion dollars (640 billion) by 2015.
"The issue is not just that maintenance keeps on getting deferred, it is that the lack of an application inventory and the absence of a structured review process for the application portfolio," added Kyte.
Get the ITPro daily newsletter
Sign up today and you will receive a free copy of our Future Focus 2025 report - the leading guidance on AI, cybersecurity and other IT challenges as per 700+ senior executives
"This means the IT management team is simply never aware of the true scale of the problem. This problem, hidden from sight, is getting bigger every year and more difficult to deal with every year."
He believed the growth in IT provision was a double-edged sword because it brought added functionality but the extra hardware and software required also needed to be supported and upgraded.
In his report, Kyte advised IT leaders to produce an annual report on the status of their application portfolios. To make an impression on upper management, this report should detail the current count of applications in use and the cost of maintaining and improving the integrity of these and any hardware assets.
Kyte said he did not believe this will bring immediate change and improvement but added: "Over time, the steady drip of information into the management team will start to bring about changes in attitude and develop a willingness to engage in dealing with IT debt."
-
LaunchDarkly to "double down" on observability with Highlight acquisition
News Highlight's observability tools will be integrated into LaunchDarkly's Guarded Releases software deployment service
By Daniel Todd
-
Samsung Galaxy Tab S10 FE review
Reviews The Tab S10 FE retains the feel and core capabilities of Samsung's high-end S10 tablets, but compromises on the display and the performance
By Stuart Andrews
-
Nearly half of all digital initiatives still fail – here’s how you can learn from the ‘digital vanguard’ and deliver success
News With most digital initiatives are failing to deliver, CIOs are urged to work more closely with other executives
By Emma Woollacott
-
IT services spending set to surge in 2025 as CIOs shift to AI partner solutions
News Organizations are set to shift from buying generative AI solutions to implementing partner solutions, according to Gartner
By Ross Kelly
-
Businesses still don’t know who’s accountable for AI at executive level
News Executives are unclear on where the buck stops in terms of AI management
By George Fitzmaurice
-
Gartner reveals the top trends for government technology use in 2024
News Five key areas that public sector CIOs will need to address to improve citizen services
By Emma Woollacott
-
Return to office mandates can be divisive - here are three things business leaders can do to help smooth the transition
Analysis With return to office mandates having sparked major spats between workers and employers, leaders need to consider how they can make changes attractive and effective
By George Fitzmaurice
-
Global IT spending set to reach $5 trillion in 2024 amid optimistic industry outlook
News IT spending growth in 2024 is expected to be more than double that of 2023
By George Fitzmaurice
-
What will drive IT spending in 2024?
In-depth Generative AI spending is unlikely to be high despite the hype, but sustainable technology will become a bigger priority.
By Rich McEachran
-
Half of jobseekers turned down offers last year amid growing demands on employers
News An increasingly competitive talent landscape means employers are being forced to offer a wider range of incentives
By Ross Kelly