Large enterprises waste 28 percent of software budgets on unwanted upgrades, according to a new report.

Large enterprise businesses waste an average of 28 percent of their software budgets on unwanted upgrades, migrations, and licensing changes, according to a recent report titled The Software Tax. The survey highlights that IT decision-makers frequently believe these vendor-driven updates reduce overall system performance, reliability, and business value. The report, commissioned by software maintenance provider Origina and conducted by third-party consultancy Censuswide, surveyed 2,018 chief information officers and senior IT leaders.

All respondents work at companies with at least 10,000 employees and $1 billion in annual revenue, split evenly between the US and the UK. Ninety-five percent reported paying for a vendor-driven upgrade in the past three years that they feared would hurt their organization, with 53 percent doing so multiple times.

Furthermore, 76 percent stated their organization lacks negotiating leverage, and 80 percent said leaving major vendors would cause significant disruption. This dynamic forces technical teams into recurring upgrade cycles that consume engineering time and starve other areas of funding. Report authors and IT leaders point out that resisting updates often means losing vital support on core systems, leaving companies with little choice but to comply.