Internal organizational struggles and the misalignment between business and technology teams are putting app modernization efforts in peril before they even start, to the point that 97% predict someone in their organization would push back on a proposed project. vFunction has released the results of its first app modernization research report, entitled: “Executives and App Modernization: What Architects Want You to Know About Why App Modernization Projects Fail.”

The study affirms modernization is a current and active project, with 92% of respondents plan to or are currently modernizing their apps – leaving only 8% that are not planning to modernize – and reveals that modernization projects have proven complex, expensive and risky.

The survey has found that 4 in 5 software and architecture leaders say they’ve had an app modernization effort fail along the way, with 74% of respondents saying that the typical application modernization effort costs $1M+, averaging nearly $1.5M. Beyond the steep financial cost is time. Nearly 3 in 5 (58%) software and architecture leaders say the typical app modernization effort takes over a year, averaging 16 months per project — more than a quarter (27%) say it takes two years or more.

The report said that 43% of those who have seen app modernization failures blame expectations not being set correctly, while another 37% blame failure on required organizational structure changes. Yet in looking at architects alone, they note a “lack of intelligent tools” as the number one reason for failure.

The struggle with ineffective tools and the skills and training needed to modernize is a common theme amongst architect respondents, as “too complex,” “inadequate skills or training” and “failure to accurately set expectations” all tied for the 2nd most common reason for failure.

The survey, executed with Wakefield Research, reveals the differences in goals, challenges and reasons for failure between business leaders and architects as they address today’s app modernization projects.