IRVINE, Calif., Oct. 08, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Saritasa, a custom software development firm, today released its 2026 State of Legacy Software Modernization Report. Based on a survey of 513 IT professionals conducted by Researchscape International in August 2026, the report found that 68% of organizations now depend on at least one legacy software system, up from 62% in 2025.

Responsibility for those systems is moving to general IT staff as specialist expertise declines: 77% of organizations now rely on their internal IT team to maintain legacy software, up from 68% a year ago, while coverage from dedicated legacy specialists dropped from 20% to 12%. Internal teams are taking on that upkeep while also carrying AI and cloud initiatives.

“The engineers who built and understood these systems are retiring or moving on, and the systems are staying in place,” said Nik Froehlich, CEO and founder of Saritasa. “IT teams are inheriting decades of old, brittle code at the same moment they are expected to innovate. It’s only a matter of time until something breaks.”

Operational pain tied to legacy software rose across nearly every category the survey measured. Security vulnerabilities were cited by 54% of respondents, up 11 points, and high maintenance and support costs by 52%, up 13 points, the largest single increase in the survey. Limited scalability and incompatibility with modern tools each reached 50%. Poor performance and frequent downtime was the only challenge to decline, falling to 18%, which suggests organizations are keeping aging systems running at a rising cost.

The survey also points to a shift in what is holding modernization back. “The system still works” remains the most common reason for delay at 54%, followed by budget limitations at 48%. Concern about disrupting current operations rose 9 points to 47%, and concern about data migration rose 8 points to 43%. Lack of executive buy-in fell to 20%.

“Leadership has largely accepted that modernization matters, so the hesitation now sits with execution,” continued Nik. “Teams understand how much effort these projects take and what happens if one goes wrong, and many respond by holding still. Each year of waiting adds to the maintenance bill and the security exposure, and a phased plan lets organizations make progress without putting daily operations at risk.”

Modernization priorities have shifted toward core infrastructure. Better integration with other tools and platforms became the top priority at 56%, up 12 points, followed by greater scalability or flexibility at 53%, improved performance at 52%, and enhanced security and compliance at 50%. Interest in a modern user experience fell to 31% and customization options to 19%. Integration has become a prerequisite for organizations that want to connect legacy backends to AI tools, which depend on clean access to underlying data.

The report outlines a phased approach to modernization that begins with an architecture audit and prioritizes systems by risk and business impact. The full 2026 State of Legacy Software Modernization Report is available at Saritasa.com/Legacy-software-modernization.

About the Survey
The survey was conducted online by Researchscape International on behalf of Saritasa. The 2026 wave of 513 IT professionals was fielded August 20, 2026, and results are compared with a 2025 wave of 504 respondents. Respondents represented a range of industries and company sizes, from small businesses to enterprises with more than 1,000 employees, and held roles from individual contributor to senior leadership.

About Saritasa
Saritasa is a full-service custom software development firm offering mobile app, web, backend, IoT, and AR/AI development services. The company’s clients include innovative startups and enterprises across multiple verticals, including life sciences, commercial, industrial, and high technology. Saritasa strives to bridge the gap between technology and business by creating a technology company with a business mindset. Saritasa prides itself on being a reliable technology partner with its team of experts, consultants, and advisors who bring innovative solutions to businesses. Learn more at www.saritasa.com.

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