Why It’s Time to Replatform
Security architectures have become bloated, fragmented, and unsustainable. What began as well-intentioned investments in layered defense has evolved into a tangled web of bolt-on solutions doing more harm than good.
This isn’t just a feeling shared by CISOs, it’s backed by data. In a recent study from IBM and Palo Alto Networks, researchers found that the average organization now manages 83 security tools from 29 vendors. The result: rising complexity, tool sprawl, and mounting pressure on already-stretched teams.
These bloated stacks have created ideal conditions for modern threat actors. With more gaps between tools, slower visibility, and weaker response times, attackers are exploiting exactly what defenders thought would protect them. AI and automation only widen the gap when layered on top of disjointed architectures.When “More” Becomes Less
For years, the cybersecurity status quo was “more tools equals more protection.” But that mindset has proven shortsighted. Like many things in today’s digital landscape, “less is more” is becoming increasingly relevant to cybersecurity.
Each additional solution introduces its own dashboards, data models, rules, and integration quirks. Multiply that across dozens of tools, and the result is fragmented visibility, inconsistent policy enforcement, and teams stretched too thin to keep up.
Even worse, many of these tools are never fully deployed or properly tuned. It’s not uncommon to find default configurations still in place months, or even years, after purchase, or tools that were acquired but never integrated at all.
These problems are often hiding in plain sight; many tools remain in default configurations, are never fully deployed, or are missing key integrations required for effective performance. The stack might look impressive on paper, but in practice, it creates blind spots attackers can exploit.
According to IBM’s research on unified cybersecurity platforms, 95% of security leaders say they use multiple tools that perform the same function, yet fewer than a third report full integration across them. This fragmentation isn’t just inefficient, it actively undermines protection. As IBM’s cybersecurity platform report points out, tool sprawl leads to poor detection, missed handoffs, and rising operational risk.
