Breaking the Upgrade Cycle: Origina warns at Davos that forced upgrades can hold back AI innovation
DAVOS, SWITZERLAND, January 23, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, software support specialist Origina is drawing attention to a critical barrier limiting enterprise adoption of AI: the rising cost of forced software upgrades. As leaders gather to discuss how to scale emerging technologies, Origina highlights how vendor-driven upgrade cycles are consuming the budgets and resources organizations need to innovate.
Although AI is reshaping how industries operate, compete, and create value, and is projected to add over $15 trillion to global GDP by 2030, reports show that most organizations still allocate up to 80% of their IT budgets to maintaining existing on-premises hardware and legacy applications. That leaves just 20% for everything else, including the innovation that drives competitive advantage. This software trap, fuelled by endless upgrade cycles, represents a structural problem, one that Dublin-headquartered software support specialist Origina has made its mission to solve.
For most public and private organizations, the key barrier to transformation is that most technology budgets are spent on maintenance rather than transformation. The consequences of this dependency became clear following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, when customers reported price increases ranging from 800% to 1,500%, with little recourse beyond acceptance or costly migration.
Tomás O'Leary, CEO and founder of Origina, does not mince words about the industry dynamics at play. “We’re effectively dealing with a cartel," he argues. "A handful of dominant vendors have convinced the market that their roadmap is your roadmap, that their timeline is your timeline, and that you have no choice but to keep paying. We have to stand up to the bad guys."
O'Leary points to a fundamental misalignment between vendor incentives and customer needs. "Only 10% to 20% of the software a typical enterprise runs drives innovation," he says. "The rest is operational, keeping the lights on. Yet vendors treat all of it as requiring constant upgrades, constant spending, constant dependency. That's the upgrade cycle. That's the software trap."
WATCH THE CAMPAIGN LIVE HERE
About Origina
Origina is a global technology company that helps the world’s largest organizations take back control of their software strategy through an independent support model. With offices on both sides of the Atlantic and teams operating worldwide, the company partners with enterprises across every sector to stop unnecessary technology change and unlock critical budget for true innovation.
Origina delivers independent software maintenance and support for IBM, HCL, and VMware estates—ensuring critical systems remain secure, compliant, and optimized without costly, vendor-driven upgrades. Its model decouples maintenance from the OEM, empowering CIOs to reduce risk, extend asset lifespan, and reinvest savings into transformation and innovation. Visit origina.com to learn more.
Origina Press Contact
Jennifer Bellemare at info@origina.com.
Although AI is reshaping how industries operate, compete, and create value, and is projected to add over $15 trillion to global GDP by 2030, reports show that most organizations still allocate up to 80% of their IT budgets to maintaining existing on-premises hardware and legacy applications. That leaves just 20% for everything else, including the innovation that drives competitive advantage. This software trap, fuelled by endless upgrade cycles, represents a structural problem, one that Dublin-headquartered software support specialist Origina has made its mission to solve.
For most public and private organizations, the key barrier to transformation is that most technology budgets are spent on maintenance rather than transformation. The consequences of this dependency became clear following Broadcom’s acquisition of VMware, when customers reported price increases ranging from 800% to 1,500%, with little recourse beyond acceptance or costly migration.
Tomás O'Leary, CEO and founder of Origina, does not mince words about the industry dynamics at play. “We’re effectively dealing with a cartel," he argues. "A handful of dominant vendors have convinced the market that their roadmap is your roadmap, that their timeline is your timeline, and that you have no choice but to keep paying. We have to stand up to the bad guys."
O'Leary points to a fundamental misalignment between vendor incentives and customer needs. "Only 10% to 20% of the software a typical enterprise runs drives innovation," he says. "The rest is operational, keeping the lights on. Yet vendors treat all of it as requiring constant upgrades, constant spending, constant dependency. That's the upgrade cycle. That's the software trap."
WATCH THE CAMPAIGN LIVE HERE
About Origina
Origina is a global technology company that helps the world’s largest organizations take back control of their software strategy through an independent support model. With offices on both sides of the Atlantic and teams operating worldwide, the company partners with enterprises across every sector to stop unnecessary technology change and unlock critical budget for true innovation.
Origina delivers independent software maintenance and support for IBM, HCL, and VMware estates—ensuring critical systems remain secure, compliant, and optimized without costly, vendor-driven upgrades. Its model decouples maintenance from the OEM, empowering CIOs to reduce risk, extend asset lifespan, and reinvest savings into transformation and innovation. Visit origina.com to learn more.
Origina Press Contact
Jennifer Bellemare at info@origina.com.
Claudia Gahan
Acumen Media
+44 20 3553 3664
email us here
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content "as is" without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.