Global executives face pressure to cut cybersecurity spending

A new global survey by IBM Institute for Business Value (IBV) and Palo Alto Networks revealed that organizations face security complexity challenges while managing, on average, 83 different solutions from 29 vendors.The survey also shows that 7 out of 10 companies with a high degree of platformization report that their cybersecurity investments have contributed to driving business outcomes such as operational efficiency and revenue generation.

In study “Capturing the cybersecurity dividend: How security platforms generate business value”52% of the executives interviewed point out that the fragmentation of solutions limits their ability to deal with cyber threats, but 75% of the organizations that have adopted the platform agree that better integration between security, hybrid cloud, AI and other technological platforms is essential. The analysis suggests that the trend of adding more solutions to combat evolving cyber threats is contributing to inefficiency & impacting both performance and financial outcome whereas adopting a platform-based security approach can help companies reduce response times and costs without sacrificing security effectiveness.

Cybersecurity complexity is a challenging realityIncreasing digital interconnection extends attack surfaces and can create new vulnerabilities. Cyberattacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to defend against, while AI is being utilized by both defenders and attackers, creating a race in cybersecurity capabilities.

As threats evolve, executives surveyed estimate that security fragmentation and complexity cost their organizations an average of 5% of annual revenue.For a company where the number reaches US$20 billion, this represents a cost of US$1 billion in total.If added together, costs with security incidents, lost productivity, failures in digital transformations, disrupted AI initiatives, loss of customer trust and reputational damage, increase significantly.

“Organizations continue to be challenged to upgrade their security posture to address new threats while being pressured to reduce complexity and decrease” spending, said Mark Hughes, IBM Global Managing Partner for Cybersecurity Services.“Security executives need to enable innovation, protect assets, and generate value from their cybersecurity investments to help their organizations thrive and achieve their business objectives.

“We have seen the positive impacts of adopting a security platforming approach and the benefits it brings to organizations. In today's AI-driven world, strong partnerships are more essential than ever before”, said Karim Temsamani, President, Next Generation Security, Palo Alto Networks. “A IBM and Palo Alto Networks share a common vision of creating better customer outcomes - whether in value, operation or security - and platforming achieves all of these goals. This is not just about improving fragmentation today, but enabling better outcomes for the future of”.

Key insights from business leaders interviewed:

• 52% of executives state that complexity is the biggest obstacle to their cybersecurity operations;
• 80% agree they face pressure to reduce the cost of security, and 41% say security fragmentation has increased procurement costs;
• 4 In 5 organizations that have not adopted platforms say their security operations cannot effectively handle the vast amount of threats and attacks; and
• 80% of the organizations that have adopted the platform claim to have full visibility into vulnerabilities and potential threats;
• For organizations with security platforming, the average time to identify (MTTI) and the average time to contain (MTTC) security incidents are respectively 72 and 84 days shorter.

Enhancing business with platforming: unlocking the power of digital transformationConsolidating multiple tools into one unified platform strengthens the security posture and allows organizations to experience nearly 4 times better return on investment (ROI) from their cybersecurity investments, resulting in revenue generation and increased operational efficiency.

With regard to AI, a platform-based approach can also enable organizations to ingest and analyze data more effectively to provide actionable insights.With 90% of the executives surveyed hoping to scale, optimize, or innovate with AI over the next two years, integrating it into their platforms can play a key role in advancing security preparedness.For example, accelerating the adoption of AI for protection and utilizing platforming to reduce investment cycles, or using platforming to create the common governance needed to deliver the AI capabilities that are shaping the future.

By embracing platformization, companies can align technologies, drive innovation, and position security as a core requirement for business. Through the strategic partnership between IBM and Palo Alto Networks, companies are bringing together leading security platforms, AI, and transformation capabilities to help organizations confidently navigate their digital transformation journey, achieve desired outcomes, and drive substantial business value.

Tips for the success of platforming

• Choose partners that streamline your security mission and eliminate non-value-adding partners.Critically evaluate current and potential technology, service, and support partners, then decide where to invest more and when to disrupt relationships.
• Perform incident response exercises to assess where a unified platform can bring the greatest impact.
• Prepare your business to respond to threats by putting it to the test. Visit a cyber range to train business and technical teams to deal with the latest cyber threats through immersive, business-focused engagement.IBM and Palo Alto Networks offer a joint Cyber Range experience in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where customers can use the facility to support continuous improvement, training, and change management while transforming their security operating models with platforming.