The State of the Nation: Are you drowning in Windows Apps or navigating the future of IT?
Every IT leader knows the feeling. The Windows application portfolio is swelling, security risks are mounting, and the pressure to modernize is relentless. But how do you know if you're keeping pace? Are your challenges unique, or are you fighting the same battles as everyone else in the industry?
To find out, we surveyed Windows application packaging experts to get a true sense of the state of the nation. The preliminary findings are in, and they paint a vivid picture of an industry at a tipping point—grappling with legacy debt while racing towards an automated future.
The core challenge: The "Evergreen Update Gap"
The single most telling statistic: 80% of organizations fail to keep even half of their applications updated within a three-month window.
Think about that. Most enterprises carry a significant security risk because many of their apps are outdated. It’s not laziness—it’s the byproduct of massive portfolios (half of enterprises manage over 1,000 apps) and lean teams stuck in manual processes.
This is unsustainable. Something has to change.
The journey to modernization: A four-step path to an automated future
Our research shows that 85% of IT leaders plan to modernize app management within the next year. Here’s what that path looks like:
Step 1: Gaining control with patch catalogs. Visibility comes first. You can’t manage what you can’t see. Moving beyond spreadsheets and into comprehensive patch catalogs provides the foundation: which versions are out there, which are vulnerable, and where updates are available.
Step 2: Breaking the bottleneck with automated packaging. Most packaging teams are just 1–3 people, and 75% take a week or more to prep a single app. Automation removes repetitive grunt work, freeing skilled resources to focus on harder problems while dramatically increasing throughput.
The only way to break this cycle is through automated packaging and repackaging. By automating the repetitive, time-consuming tasks of preparing applications, organizations can free up their skilled resources to focus on more complex challenges, drastically increasing throughput and accelerating project timelines.
Step 3: Deploying with confidence through automated, ring-based deployment. Modernization means moving past risky “big bang” deployments. Ring-based, automated rollouts let you validate at each stage—testers, early adopters, full organization—so you deliver faster with less risk.
Step 4: Embracing modern formats like MSIX. 65% of IT leaders expect to adopt MSIX in the next two years. Compatibility remains the top blocker, but success will come from blending modern formats with practical ways to manage the legacy apps that aren’t going away anytime soon.
Your invitation to shape the future
The message is clear: the future of application management is automated, intelligent, and cloud-native. But we’re only scratching the surface—and your input is critical.
Take a few minutes to complete Bob Kelly's Windows App Packaging Pulse survey. You’ll be among the first to see the published report, packed with insights to benchmark your team, validate your strategy, and strengthen your case for modernization.
We invite you to participate. By taking just five minutes, you’ll be the first to receive the latest published report, packed with the data you need to benchmark your team, validate your strategy, and build the business case for your own modernization journey.
Let's fix unmanaged Windows applications together
At Juriba, we help enterprises modernize Windows app management with automation, AI, and proven, scalable processes. The results speak for themselves: faster delivery, lower costs, stronger security, and fewer headaches.
Our customers have cut update times by 80%, eliminated thousands of unnecessary apps, and regained visibility into software they hadn’t touched in years.
If you're ready to stop guessing and start managing, reach out to our team today. We’d love to show you what’s possible.
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