The technological progress and constant reformation is rapidly expanding in software development, especially in mid to large and mega IT systems.
It used to be a common mistake not to scale these systems from the inception phase to future trends so that these systems can cope with the demand from future usage or from new technological evolutions that imply changes to an IT system.
Although this used to be a common mistake and the design of these systems was looking for a horizon of 5-6 years, this rarely happens to exist, but it is evident quickly enough that a bad investment , especially in the IT world, does not turn around or does not improve as time passes. On the contrary it becomes evident and painful as the time passes, making the need of upgrading and evolving to new technologies quickly enough so that you keep services stable if not improving them , instead of risking failure while in operations.
Forward thinking , seeing the horizon and what the future will look like in the IT domain is crucial, especially in periods that financial difficulties exist, the right choice and the right investment is crucial to sustain the challenges and remain competitive in the business domain.