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 deal with cyber threats, but 75% of organisations that have embraced security platformisation agree that better integration across security, hybrid cloud, AI, and other technology platforms is crucial. The analysis suggests the trend of adding more solutions to combat evolving security threats is contributing to inefficiency – impacting both performance and the bottom line – while moving to a platformised security approach can help businesses achieve reduced response times and costs without sacrificing security efficacy.

Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated

Increased digital interconnectedness expands attack surfaces and can create new cyber security vulnerabilities. Cyber attacks are becoming more sophisticated and harder to defend against, while AI is being used by both defenders and attackers, creating a race in cyber security capabilities.

In an evolving threat landscape, surveyed executives 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 cyber security investments to help their organisations thrive and further their business goals."

Platformisation approach

"We have seen the positive impacts of adopting a platformised approach to security, and the benefits 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."

By adopting a platformisation approach, businesses can align technologies, drive innovation, and prioritise security as a core business requirement. Through partnerships, such as IBM and Palo Alto Networks' strategic partnership, companies can bring together leading security platforms, AI, and transformation capabilities to help effectively navigate the digital transformation journey, achieve their desired outcomes and drive substantial business value.