“Traditional project governance is structurally incapable of horizon-scanning”
Most organisations are excellent at delivering projects. Ensuring those projects are still relevant five years later is often a different matter.
Budget season is looming, and leadership teams are asking the same question in different ways: how do we get more for less, without storing up problems for the future?
In 2026, the answer will be increasingly tied to AI-ready infrastructure. It is becoming a dividing line between organisations that are merely “modern” and those that are truly future-proof.
At Stoneseed, we’ve been busy evolving our Project Management as a Service (PMaaS) portfolio of services to meet this head-on. Technical Architects and Business Analysts are traditionally key to this, but we’re seeing our PMaaS Project Managers stepping up too – our team is ready to complement your team.
MODERNISING INTO YESTERYEAR
As per articles in the register The UK’s Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) brought this into sharp focus for me recently. Defra spent £312 million on IT “modernisation”, including removing 31,500 Windows 7 laptops and upgrading them.
Obsolete operating systems removed, legacy kit refreshed, tens of thousands of vulnerabilities tackled, and legacy data centres earmarked for closure.
On paper, this looked like progress, right?
Except those Windows 7 machines were upgraded to … Windows 10.
- This blog isn’t about Windows 10, it’s about lifecycle myopia, but a bit of context might be useful: Windows 10 has now reached the end of free support, with mainstream support officially ending and extended support requiring additional paid add-ons. At the same time, Microsoft and its partners are pushing a new generation of “AI PCs” running Windows 11, designed around dedicated Neural Processing Units (NPUs) for local AI workloads and deep integration with Copilot and other AI assistants.
Defra unintentionally modernised onto an operating system that is already behind the curve, just as AI starts to shift from buzzword to baseline expectation.
Let me be clear, I’m not singling Defra out. I’ve seen similar in the private sector and, being kind, you could argue that AI PCs weren’t enterprise-ready when these programmes were scoped (that said, Windows 10’s remaining lifespan was clearly finite, even then).
It’s not just OS issues. Other IT projects have failed to future-proof because:
Fixed business cases discourage revisiting assumptions
Procurement rules lock decisions too early
Benefits realisation stops at go-live
Architecture and delivery are often decoupled
PM success metrics don’t include post-delivery relevance
Training and engagement are treated as “one and done” and not ongoing
It’s left me wondering whether traditional project governance is now structurally incapable of horizon-scanning, optimising for certainty at approval time, not relevance over the solution’s lifespan. That bias feels structural, not accidental.
This isn’t a failure of intent or competence; it’s a failure of how projects are framed, governed and challenged. Viewed through this paradigm, future-proofing is less about trying to predict the future; it’s about preserving and maximising option value over a wider time horizon.
NB: this was written, inspired by a piece in The Register on Wed 5 Nov 2025 :
This amendment has since been published to that article (see below) but it still serves as an example where technology updates can go astray.
Updated to add by The Register at 10:20 UTC, December 2 2025: Defra has confirmed it mistakenly told the Public Accounts Committee in its letter that it had upgraded tens of thousands of laptops to Windows 10 rather than Windows 11. It has now confirmed in a new letter to the PAC that it in fact had upgraded those machines to Windows 11 in March 2025. The Register asked how this fundamental error was made in its initial communication to the PAC and asked about the size of the PC estate yet to migrate to Windows 11. Defra has yet to respond to those questions.
MODERNISATION THAT DOESN’T AGE BADLY
This is where PMaaS can make a big difference. Good project management isn’t just about hitting deadlines and budgets; it’s about strategic alignment. A good PMaaS partner, like Stoneseed, brings deep technical and delivery expertise that helps organisations ask the questions that matter, before procurement decisions crystallise:
- Does this project align with where the technology landscape will be in three to five years?
- Are we modernising for stability, or for adaptability?
- How will emerging technologies (like AI workloads or chip architectures) impact our current choices?
EXPERIENCE AND EVOLUTION
By embedding flexible, scalable project delivery teams who specialise in future-focused planning, PMaaS can help avoid modernising into obsolescence.
Our PM team are experienced across multiple technology solutions, sectors and industries. We work with all types of projects and programmes from Business Change and Transformation, to Infrastructure, Digital and IT Project Delivery. Memberships and accreditations held by our team include PRINCE2, Project Management Institute, P3M3, Agile Project Management Certification and MSP but most will proudly tell you that their learning never ends – and that’s a big bonus for your enterprise.
Most PMaaS Project Managers have told us how PMaaS creates a delivery environment where learning compounds, because no two engagements are the same. Even strong permanent teams can struggle to step outside comfort zones, because incentives reward consistency, not challenge. PMaaS creates variety by design, and with it, faster learning, a broader scope of judgment, and a yearn to learn mindset.
FORWARD THINKING
I asked a handful of PMaaS Project Managers how they might approach challenges like future-proofing:
1 – Look beyond the project end date
A great PM keeps asking “What happens after we go live?” rather than treating go‑live as the finish line. They:
Check support and lifecycle dates for key platforms and plan so the solution isn’t end‑of‑life halfway through the next budget period.
Design in upgrade paths, extension points and exit routes so the organisation is not “boxed in” by today’s decisions.
2 – Challenge “safe” but short‑term choices
Future‑proof PPM is uncomfortable by design. Strong project managers:
Test assumptions like “we’ll stick with the older version because it’s proven” against where the vendor and market are heading.
Put options on the table (e.g. phased adoption, mixed estates, pilots) so leaders see the trade‑offs instead of defaulting to the lowest perceived risk.
3 – Tie projects into a portfolio, not a shopping list
Most “lock‑in” comes from projects being treated as one‑offs. A good PM:
Works with architecture and portfolio leads to ensure this project is a stepping stone, not a dead end.
Aligns scope and timing with other initiatives (cloud, data, security, workplace, line‑of‑business systems) so things converge on a target state.
4 – Design for flexibility, not maximal certainty
Future‑proofing means accepting that requirements and technologies will change. Great PMs:
Build flexible contracts, modular designs and incremental delivery so you can pivot without throwing everything away.
Focus on outcomes and capabilities rather than hard‑coding specific tools everywhere.
5 – Keep an eye on skills and operating model
A project can be “successful” and still fail the organisation if nobody can run or evolve what was delivered. Strong PMs:
Ensure training, documentation and knowledge transfer are treated as first‑class deliverables, not nice‑to‑haves.
Involve operations, security, finance and business teams early so the solution can be owned and iterated, not just supported.
6 – Use emerging tech as the lens, not the story
AI is useful here as one test case among many. A PM with a future‑proofing mindset:
Asks simple, enduring questions: “Will this design help or hinder us if we adopt more automation, analytics or AI later?”
Avoids overspecifying today’s AI features and instead makes sure data, integration and security foundations are good enough to support whatever comes next.
HEADROOM BUILT
So … the lesson from Defra is not that modernisation is pointless, or that Windows 10 projects were universally wrong, or anything like that! It’s the risk of being one step behind, spending tomorrow’s budget on yesterday’s technology and processes.
In a period of rapid technological change, especially around AI, “good enough for now” can quickly age into “expensive to undo.”
Project Management as a Service offers a way to hedge against that risk. By combining disciplined delivery with forward-looking challenge, it helps ensure that when you spend millions on “modernisation,” you are buying headroom for the future, not just a sticking plaster for the present or relief from the past.
CONCLUSION
The real question for 2026 budgets isn’t whether a project is deliverable, it’s how expensive it will be to change our minds later.
If you’re planning major modernisation in 2026, or an ambitious IT Project to move your business forward, and want confidence it won’t age badly, let’s talk (For public sector readers: remember Stoneseed is available via G-Cloud).
A short conversation now can help test whether today’s decisions are buying future headroom or quietly baking in the cost of change later.
sources:
https://www.theregister.com/2025/11/05/uk_defra_dept_spent_312m_window_10
