Technology that truly accelerates business

Fujitsu / April 16, 2026

Hybrid IT Data and Security Digital Transformation

In today’s digital economy, acceleration is everything—but it’s often misunderstood. Accelerating a business doesn’t mean simply running IT systems faster. True acceleration comes from reducing friction, lowering operational effort, preventing errors, and shortening the time it takes to deliver value. It’s about freeing up capacity so organizations can continuously adapt and evolve.

The reality: balancing between today and future demands
The hidden trap: a negative feedback loop
Maintenance: how to make it more efficient
Projects: how to increase effectiveness and add more value
The overlooked priority: preparing for what’s next
How AI can help?
Breaking the cycle
Accelerate with confidence

The reality: balancing between today and future demands

Most organizations struggle to accelerate, now and in the future. Not because they lack ambition, but because their IT resources are split across three competing areas:

Maintenance – keeping existing systems available, secure and compliant
Projects – delivering new capabilities to create value and enable growth
Future preparation – addressing what’s coming next, these topics ask for preparation before urgency takes over.

These aren’t optional—they’re structural realities. And they all compete for the same limited time, budget, and talent. The result? A constant balancing act where urgent operational work often wins, and strategic progress slows.

The hidden trap: a negative feedback loop

Over time, a predictable pattern emerges. Maintenance consumes an increasing share of capacity, forcing projects to be delayed or scaled back. As modernization slows, technical debt continues to build, while every new project adds to the systems that must eventually be maintained. This growing operational burden pushes future-focused initiatives aside until they become urgent—and far more costly to address. Ultimately, acceleration stalls—not for lack of ideas, but because the system itself becomes the constraint.

I will explore these dependencies in this blog with you, but you can also find all insights into our interactive e-book >>.

Maintenance: how to make it more efficient

Maintenance is the backbone of IT. It keeps the business running. But it comes at a cost:

It often consumes more than half of IT budgets
It is continuous and unavoidable
It prioritizes urgency over innovation

When maintenance becomes inefficient, it doesn’t just cost more—it limits everything else. Therefore it’s important to reduce the operational burden. There are two ways how to do this. First, is to reduce the workload itself, for example by decommissioning legacy systems. Second, by standardizing processes and using AI and automation organizations can also make maintenance more efficient. The key insight: efficiency alone isn’t enough. If the workload keeps growing, gains will be temporary. Real relief comes from reducing complexity at the source.

Loading component...

Projects: how to increase effectiveness and add more value

Projects are where transformation happens. They introduce new capabilities, enable growth, and unlock innovation. But they come with a trade-off. Every successful project requires ongoing support and maintenance and competes for the same resources as operations. Therefore it’s important to plan for the full lifecycle—including how systems will be operated and eventually retired. In addition, standardized platforms and the use of AI can help to reduce errors and accelerate development.

Loading component...

The overlooked priority: preparing for what’s next

Future-focused initiatives—such as AI adoption, regulatory change, or digital sovereignty—rarely feel urgent in the moment, which is precisely why they are often delayed. However, postponing them comes at a cost. It can lead to reactive, less well-considered infrastructure decisions, where critical elements like security are treated as an afterthought. Effective preparation doesn’t require large upfront investment. It starts with assigning ownership, running small proofs of concepts, adding topics to the roadmap early and creating visibility across teams. This creates space for informed, deliberate decisions—before urgency takes over.

Loading component...

How AI can help?

AI doesn’t sit outside this system—it operates within it. Used correctly, AI can reduce maintenance effort through automation, improve project outcomes by minimizing errors, and enable faster insight and support decision-making. But without strong governance, AI can also increase complexity and risk. The goal isn’t to deploy AI everywhere—it’s to apply it where it reduces friction and improves control. This applies to how IT can help in breaking the negative feedback loop between these priorities. When cloud, platform engineering, security and AI reinforce one another, they unlock the conditions for sustained progress.

Loading component...

Breaking the cycle

Where maintenance is about efficiency, projects is about effectiveness and future topics are about relevance. IT can help in all three areas to achieve these goals. That’s how successful organizations are able to find a way to balance day-to-day demands with future requirements. That means:

Decommission deliberately – remove what no longer adds value
Simplify platforms – reduce fragmentation and duplication
Design for lifecycle – include ownership and end-of-life planning
Protect future capacity – keep preparation on the roadmap

This will create a positive cycle with less maintenance drag and more capacity for sustained, scalable acceleration.

Loading component...

Loading component...

Accelerate with confidence

Sustainable acceleration isn’t about pushing teams harder or moving faster at all costs. It’s about making smarter trade-offs. With proven experience in complex modernization and deep platform expertise, Fujitsu supports organizations in this journey through a holistic approach that brings together consulting, delivery, and ongoing operations. Organizations that get this right don’t just move faster—they move with confidence.

Discover more insights in our e-book: https://indd.adobe.com/view/e8ff3364-baad-435d-822f-060586ff2832

Loading component...

Jan van der Torn

Senior Cloud and Digital Consultant

Jan van der Torn is a highly experienced Dutch Principal Cloud Consultant and Enterprise Architect with over 30 years in IT leadership, cloud transformation and team enablement. Holding a Master’s degree in Organizational Psychology (Utrecht University) and multiple high-level AWS certifications (Solutions Architect Professional, Security Specialty), he combines deep technical expertise (like Linux, networking, AWS and GCP) with strong people-oriented leadership. Currently at Fujitsu, Jan acts as a senior consultant and participates in the sales team. Known as the “glue” in teams and complex projects, Jan excels at translating technical decisions into business strategy, making IT landscapes future-proof, improving security maturity, and helping people and organizations grow. His career spans pioneering open-source solutions, CTO roles, ITIL-based service management, and large-scale migrations for clients.

Jan van der Torn | LinkedIn