95% of UK financial firms want more budget for innovation over “keeping the lights on”

• Nearly 9 in 10 finance organisations report Microsoft Windows technical debt, while 60% admit a “large number” of out-of-date servers  – a growing concern as the Windows 10 End of Life deadline falls – according to Cloudhouse research
• Cloudhouse State of Technical Debt Report 2025 details legacy issues in finance sector, offering dedicated support and guidance for EoL migration 

New analysis from Cloudhouse, based on an industry survey of UK IT decision-makers, reveals deep technical debt across financial services – and an urgent need for modernisation. The study revealed that 95% of respondents wished they could spend more budget and time on strategic projects rather than day-to-day maintenance.

According to the research, based on a survey of 135 finance IT leaders, 90% admit their organisation carries Microsoft Windows technical debt (apps or services that only run on out-of-date Windows). A majority (60%) said they have a large number of servers or desktops still running unsupported Windows versions.

Over half (59%) of finance IT leads report increased time spent on maintenance and troubleshooting as a direct result of legacy Windows infrastructure. Despite this, almost all (90%) have a plan or framework to modernise legacy infrastructure in the next two years.

“Financial services firms shoulder acute operational risk from legacy Windows estates,” said Mat Clothier, CEO at Cloudhouse. “This is a business-critical risk that drains budgets and prevents security and digital transformation work. With major Microsoft support milestones approaching in 2025, firms need actionable, low-risk migration pathways now.”

Practical help ahead of 2025 deadlines

To help finance organisations move from planning to delivery, Cloudhouse is announcing a targeted support programme that includes:

• Dedicated EoL readiness guidance for finance IT teams, mapping apps and services to migration pathways.
• A hotline service for organisations facing immediate Microsoft-related end-of-support risks.
• Fast, low-disruption migration options that preserve critical app behaviour while moving workloads off unsupported Windows hosts -reducing both time-to-value and risk.