You Can’t Support Business Diversification on an Unsustainable Technology Stack

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TL;DR: In a landscape where agility and growth are paramount, business diversification is often seen as a strategic imperative. However, too many organisations attempt to diversify their products, services, or markets while still being reliant on outdated, fragmented, or poorly integrated technology. My article explores why you simply cannot support sustainable business diversification on an unsustainable technology stack — and what CIOs must do about it.

Business diversification is high on the agenda for many organisations in 2025. Whether through entering new markets, launching digital products, or acquiring new capabilities, diversification promises growth and resilience in a volatile world. But beneath the boardroom optimism, there lies an often-overlooked reality: most legacy technology stacks were never designed to flex with these ambitions.

As a Global CIO, I’ve seen first-hand how a brittle IT foundation can quietly sabotage even the boldest diversification strategies. Let’s be clear — you cannot build a modern, scalable, customer-centric enterprise on systems that can barely support current operations.

The Myth of ‘Just Enough Tech’

Too many organisations still operate with the belief that their current stack is “good enough” for now. This mindset tends to focus on short-term fixes — patching systems, bolting on new tools, or layering digital experiences over analogue cores.

But diversification demands more than cosmetic change. It requires your technology architecture to scale, adapt, and interoperate with speed and precision. If your underlying systems aren’t cloud-native, data-rich, and API-driven, you’re not building capability — you’re buying time. And that time will run out.

Signs of an Unsustainable Stack

If you’re planning or already executing a diversification strategy, ask yourself:

• Are your systems built for integration or isolation?

• Can your data move freely across business units, geographies, and platforms?

• Is your infrastructure cloud-optimised or cloud-constrained?

• Do your teams spend more time maintaining legacy code than innovating?

If the answers raise red flags, diversification may end up amplifying risk rather than delivering growth.

Why Technology Must Lead, Not Lag

In the race to diversify, technology must move from being a cost centre to a growth enabler. This means rearchitecting for flexibility, investing in platforms that scale, and embedding modern digital capabilities at the core — not the edge — of the business.

Technology stack sustainability is about more than uptime. It’s about ensuring the business can pivot, scale, and innovate without re-platforming every time strategy changes. Whether it’s supporting new digital services, integrating acquired companies, or enabling rapid go-to-market strategies, a sustainable technology foundation is a non-negotiable.

Platform Thinking as a Differentiator

One of the most powerful enablers of diversification is adopting a platform mindset. Rather than building isolated systems for each new initiative, a platform-based approach allows for reuse, consistency, and rapid experimentation.

Modern CIOs must prioritise platformisation — leveraging composable architecture, scalable APIs, and data-as-a-product thinking — to drive sustainable diversification. These approaches not only reduce time-to-market but also minimise technical debt and operational overhead.

The Role of Data in Diversification

Let’s not forget the importance of data. An unsustainable stack often lacks unified data models, leading to fragmented insights and poor decision-making. Without clean, accessible, and governed data, even the most promising diversification effort will be flying blind.

CIOs should invest in modern data platforms that treat data as a strategic asset — with built-in governance, AI-readiness, and the ability to serve insights across a rapidly evolving enterprise.

Change is Cultural, Not Just Technical

Technology transformation and sustainability are as much about culture as code. To support business diversification, CIOs must champion cross-functional collaboration, agile delivery models, and a product mindset across the enterprise.

An organisation’s ability to diversify will only ever be as strong as its willingness to modernise its thinking — not just its tech.

In Closing: Stack Wisely, Diversify Sustainably

There’s no shortcut to scalable growth. If your business ambitions outpace your technology capabilities, you’re not set for success—you’re set for stress. Sustainable business diversification requires a sustainable technology stack. It's not optional. Not later. Now.

As CIOs, our remit is clear: make the technology stack an accelerator, not an anchor. That starts with confronting legacy, embracing modern architecture, and aligning every tech decision to the business’s growth agenda.

Richard Keenlyside is a Global CIO for the LoneStar Group and a previous IT Director for J Sainsbury’s PLC.