Platformisation approach reduces cybersecurity complexity

New global research from IBM’s Institute for Business Value (IBV) and Palo Alto Networks, finds that surveyed organizations are facing security complexity challenges as they now manage an average of 83 different security solutions from 29 vendors. It also shows 7 out of 10 companies that shift to a platformisation approach can improve cybersecurity outcomes, operational efficiencies and revenue generation.

In the study, “Capturing the cybersecurity dividend: How security platforms generate business value,” more than half (52%) of surveyed executives note fragmentation of security solutions is limiting their ability to innovate and deal with cyber threats, with 75% agreeing better security integration is crucial to ongoing digital transformation and governance. The analysis suggests a strategy of adding more solutions to combat evolving security issues is contributing to inefficiency – impacting both performance and the bottom line – while moving to a platformized security approach can help businesses achieve reduced response times and cost without sacrificing security efficacy.

Cybersecurity Complexity is a Daunting Reality

Increased interconnectedness expands attack surfaces and creates new vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to defend against, and AI is being used by both defenders and attackers, creating a race in cybersecurity capabilities.

In an evolving threat landscape, leaders estimate security fragmentation and complexity costs their organisations an average of 5% of their annual revenue. For a $20 billion annual revenue company, that’s a $1 billion cost to the business in aggregate. Tally the costs of security incidents, lost productivity, failed digital transformations, stalled AI initiatives, loss of customer trust and reputational damage and the numbers add up.

“Organisations continue to be challenged with updating their security posture to address new threats, while simultaneously being pressed to reduce complexity and decrease spend,” said Mark Hughes, Global Managing Partner for Cybersecurity Services, IBM. “Security executives need to enable innovation, protect assets and derive value from their cybersecurity investments to help their organisations thrive and further their business goals.”

“We have seen the positive impacts of adopting a platformized approach to security, and the benefits of what it delivers to organisations. In today’s AI-fueled world, strong partnerships are more essential than ever,” said Karim Temsamani, President, Next Generation Security, Palo Alto Networks. “IBM and Palo Alto Networks are aligned on a common vision of creating better outcomes for our customers - whether in value, operational, or security…and platformisation accomplishes all of them. This isn’t just about improving fragmentation today, it’s about enabling better outcomes for the future.”

Key insights from surveyed business leaders:

52% of executives say complexity is the biggest impediment to their cybersecurity operations;

80% agree they face pressure to reduce the cost of security, and 41% say fragmentation has driven up procurement costs;

4 out of 5 non-platform organizations say their security operations cannot deal effectively with the sheer quantity of threats and attacks;

80% of platformisation adopters say they have full visibility into potential vulnerabilities and threats; and,

For platformised organisations, mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to contain (MTTC) security incidents are shorter by 72 and 84 days, respectively.

Enhancing Businesses with Platformization: Unleashing the Power of Digital Transformation

In today’s world, effective security requires platformisation. Consolidating multiple tools into a unified platform not only bolsters security posture but enables organisations to experience up to 4 times better return on investment (ROI) from their cybersecurity investments, leading to revenue generation and increased operational efficiencies.

When it comes to AI, a platform approach can also enable an organisation to better ingest and analyze data to deliver actionable insights. With 90% of surveyed executives expecting to scale, optimize, or innovate with AI within the next two years, integrating AI into their platforms can play a critical role in advancing their security preparedness. For example, accelerating adoption of agentic AI for security and tapping platformisation for fewer investment cycles or using platformisation to create the common governance needed to deliver the AI capabilities shaping the future.

By adopting a platformisation approach, businesses can align technologies, drive innovation, and prioritise security as a core business requirement. The strategic partnership between IBM and Palo Alto Networks brings together leading security platforms, AI, and transformation capabilities to help organisations confidently navigate their digital transformation journey, achieving their desired outcomes and driving substantial business value.

Tips for Platformization Success

Choose partners that streamline your security mission and trim those that don’t. Critically evaluate current and potential technology, services, and support partners and make hard decisions about where to double down and when to part ways.

Run your playbook. Stage incident response drills to assess where a unified platform can deliver the greatest impact. Take action to improve your incident response capabilities.

Extend your capabilities through partners. Visit a cyber range to prepare business and technical teams to address the latest cyber threats through an immersive, organisation-wide business-focused engagement. IBM and Palo Alto Networks now provide a joint Cyber Range experience in Cambridge, Mass., where clients can leverage the facility to support continuous improvement, training, and change management as they transform their security operating models with platformisation.