Ensono research finds 78% of IT leaders see growing value in legacy systems as AI reshapes modernization

Second annual State of IT Modernization Report finds leaders are more selective about technology investments as AI increases the value of legacy systems

DOWNERS GROVE, Ill., Sept. 15, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Ensono, a leading technology advisor, innovation partner and managed service provider, today announced its second annual State of IT Modernization Report. The survey of IT leaders across the US and UK found that the AI era is challenging a longstanding assumption about IT modernization: that progress means simply replacing what came before.

Seventy-eight percent of IT decision makers say legacy systems play a more important role in their organizations today than they did two years ago, as the data, business logic and operational stability within those environments become increasingly important to achieving AI aspirations. Rather than replacing legacy technologies outright, 52% of organizations are optimizing and extending existing systems while modernizing applications where they are. By taking a more selective approach, leaders create a clear connection between modernization spending and true business value.

“AI is expanding the possibilities for modernization,” said Brian Klingbeil, Chief Strategy Officer at Ensono. “Enterprises are discovering that legacy systems, like the mainframe, are intensely powerful, reliable and efficient sources of computing that can now be augmented and made more agile thanks to AI. These systems contain decades of data and business logic that drive many businesses. The advantage will go to organizations that understand their environments well enough to distinguish what should be replaced versus what should be augmented, and embrace new modernization methods that simply were not available even 18 months ago."

However, renewed understanding of legacy systems’ value does not offset many of the challenges that accompany their maintenance. Ninety-seven percent of respondents say talent shortages have increased modernization costs to some degree and 71% of modernization initiatives have exceeded planned costs, with UK organizations bursting budgets more frequently (77%) than US companies (66%). Collectively, 61% of organizations have paused, delayed, scaled back, or fully abandoned IT modernization initiatives in the past 24 months.

However, there are several key areas where IT teams are gaining traction:

• 54% of decision makers say AI is accelerating modernization initiatives, up from 39% in 2025.
• 38% of IT teams spend most of their time innovating or adding new capabilities — up from 25% in 2025. This indicates additional resources make a real difference in how much time IT has to focus on long-term operational enablement over day-to-day issues management.
• Modernization leaders prioritize visibility and measurement. Nearly a third (31%) of organizations now consider themselves modernization leaders, up from 21% last year.
  • Compared with organizations playing catch-up, these leaders are nearly twice as likely to have strong visibility across hybrid environments (77% vs. 39%). They also report significantly higher levels of structured success measurement (74% vs. 16%) and business alignment (64% vs. 36%).
• Organizations that proactively modernize applications to support future AI initiatives are nearly twice as likely to strongly agree that AI is helping unlock new revenue-generating capabilities (58%).
• More than half (52%) of organizations are optimizing and extending legacy systems by modernizing applications where they are, rather than replacing them outright — an approach that’s slightly more common in the UK (57%) than the U.S. (48%).

The modernization choices an organization makes are becoming more important as AI reshapes both why and how they transform their environments. While support for AI, automation and advanced data initiatives is now the leading driver of modernization, organizations still struggle to realize AI ROI with leading reasons being workflow integration challenges (33%), infrastructure limitations (28%) and governance concerns (25%), reinforcing that AI readiness requires more than adding new capabilities. IT leaders need to determine what to preserve, what to modernize, and where targeted investments can remove barriers between AI investment and business value.

As AI raises the strategic value of existing systems and increases pressure to invest in new capabilities, modernization leaders are distinguishing themselves through the quality of their choices. Greater visibility, clearer measures of business value and disciplined prioritization can help CIOs put finite resources behind the changes most likely to produce meaningful returns.

Read Ensono’s 2026 State of IT Modernization Report.

About Ensono
Ensono is a global technology advisor and managed service provider that helps enterprises drive real operational and business outcomes. As an essential ally, Ensono works with clients to use AI to modernize applications and data platforms, automate IT and business operations, and move from reactive management to predictive, outcome-driven performance across hybrid, multicloud, and mainframe environments. With deep domain expertise and disciplined execution, Ensono helps organizations prioritize the right AI use cases, modernize at their own pace, and realize measurable ROI. Ensono has more than 4,200 associates worldwide and is headquartered in greater Chicago.

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Media Contact:
Walker Sands on behalf of Ensono
EnsonoPR@WalkerSands.com

Ensono's State of IT Modernization 2026 captures evolving IT decision maker priorities

Ensono's second annual State of IT Modernization report finds AI priorities are reshaping modernization, and leaders are more confident in how their modernization initiatives are empowering business growth. This year's survey revealed several common traits among modernization leaders that are critical to long-term positive impact.