The role of technology has fundamentally shifted — from supporting operations to shaping strategic outcomes. In this environment, IT modernisation is not optional; it’s mandatory. CIOs and technology leaders are expected to streamline operations, reduce costs, improve resilience and accelerate agility, all while navigating increasingly complex and fragmented IT landscapes.
Yet, despite significant investments in cloud, resilience and application modernisation, many organisations find themselves more entangled in complexity than before. Our latest PwC Tech Strategy & AI survey highlights clear priorities in IT modernisation.
54% of organisations are modernising their application landscapes.
54% are investing in system resilience and agility.
43% are transitioning workloads to the cloud.
Yet, 90% struggle to transform their IT operating models.
- And 88% cite integration complexity, technology debt and legacy constraints as major roadblocks.
The question is no longer whether to modernise, but how to modernise without creating more fragmentation, cost and complexity.
Why modernisation efforts often fall short
IT modernisation is more than a technology refresh. It is about reshaping the IT landscape to enable business strategy, improve resilience and accelerate innovation. However, many organisations start modernisation without a guiding framework, leading to fragmented initiatives that add, rather than remove, complexity. To avoid this, organisations need a clear blueprint that aligns technology change with business priorities and ensures coherence across systems, processes and teams. This is where enterprise architecture (EA) plays a pivotal role.
A modern EA function does not just define principles and frameworks — it acts as a strategic partner to the business, guiding technology decisions and shaping modernisation journeys that deliver real business value. Done right, EA becomes the connective tissue between business goals, IT strategy and delivery teams, ensuring that every modernisation effort is aligned, scalable and future-ready.
So, how can organisations ensure their modernisation efforts deliver real impact instead of adding more complexity? It starts with five key priorities that drive strategic, business-aligned IT transformation.
Five priorities to get IT modernisation right
1. Align modernisation to business strategy and outcomes
IT investments must deliver tangible business outcomes. Modernisation without a clear connection to business priorities leads to misaligned investments and missed opportunities. Enterprise architects should work hand-in-hand with business leaders to ensure that every technology initiative:
Enables strategic objectives such as growth, resilience and customer experience,
Delivers measurable value and competitive advantage, and
Avoids unnecessary complexity or duplication.
2. Rationalise before you modernise
Too many organisations rush into modernisation without cleaning up what’s already there. Before adding new systems or migrating to the cloud, take the time to simplify by:
Retiring redundant or outdated applications,
Consolidating overlapping platforms, and
Streamlining integrations to reduce complexity.
3. Strengthen integration and data flow
As IT landscapes become more distributed, integration is essential for agility, efficiency and customer experience. An architecture-driven approach to integration enables:
API-first and event-driven architectures for seamless connectivity,
Common data models to break down silos, and
Improved customer insight and personalisation through smarter use of data.
4. Modernise core systems strategically and pragmatically
Not all legacy systems need to be replaced at once. A phased, risk-managed modernisation strategy is key as it enables organisations to:
Identify high-impact systems for replacement, replatforming or retention, and
Use pilots and staged rollouts to reduce risk.
5. Design for future flexibility and resilience
Modernisation should future-proof IT, enabling organisations to adapt to evolving needs and opportunities. This requires:
Modular, component-based architectures that evolve with the business,
Cloud-ready platforms that embed resilience, security and compliance from day one, including data protection and sovereignty, and
Readiness for emerging technologies such as AI, automation and advanced analytics.
A modernisation journey that delivers lasting value
Successful IT modernisation requires a clear vision, a pragmatic roadmap and alignment with business priorities. Enterprise architecture provides the structure and direction needed to ensure modernisation delivers lasting value — rather than short-lived fixes or new complexity.
Partner with PwC
At PwC, we take a customer-centric approach and help organisations navigate this journey by:
Defining target-state architecture through actionable capability models and blueprints that guide investment and delivery,
Establishing Enterprise Architecture and governance by setting up a fit-for-purpose EA function that aligns technology change with business priorities and scales effectively,
Simplifying and rationalising the IT landscape by reducing complexity through application decommissioning, platform consolidation and infrastructure streamlining,
Building a data-driven architecture that enables smarter customer insights, improved personalisation and more responsive digital experiences,
Designing integration strategies using modern, API-first and event-driven approaches to improve agility and interoperability, and
Embedding resilience, security, compliance, data privacy and sovereignty from day one to ensure that systems are scalable, secure and regulation-ready.
If you’re looking to modernise your IT and build an enterprise architecture that drives real business value, we can help. Reach out to see how PwC can support your transformation journey and turn technology into a strategic advantage.
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