Cybersecurity isn’t really a thing you can buy. Technology is continually evolving, and the threat landscape expands and adapts over time. Effective cybersecurity requires ongoing training and monitoring to try and stay one step ahead of attackers. Every aspect of cybersecurity—from the tools and platforms an organization purchases, to the research and monitoring for new threats around the clock, to the IT security professionals with the right knowledge and skills to take appropriate action when security incidents are detected—costs money. In order to evaluate your investment in cybersecurity, it’s important to step back and look at the big picture to understand the total economic impact—or TEI—of your cybersecurity spending.
The Total Economic Impact of Alert Logic SIEMless Threat Management
Alert Logic commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact (TEI) study. The Total Economic Impact of Alert Logic SIEMless Threat Management report examines the potential return on investment (ROI) customers may realize by leveraging Alert Logic security-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions. Forrester interviewed eight customers that have experience with Alert Logic SIEMless Threat Management services to gain insight into the challenges they’ve been able to address, and the costs or potential savings associated with deploying Alert Logic solutions.
Based on the interviews, Forrester constructed a composite “Organization” that represents the composite of the eight customers. The “Organization” is a mid-size company that works with clients across multiple industry verticals. It has 10 offices worldwide. The composite “Organization” was then used by Forrester to analyze the overall cost and benefit data to determine the ROI of working with Alert Logic.
Key Findings of TEI Study
There are a variety of costs and expenses that go into implementing and maintaining effective cybersecurity. The cost of the platform or tool itself is just the tip of the iceberg. Organizations also need to consider the ongoing cost of IT security staffing and training, the cost of achieving and maintaining compliance with regulatory frameworks, and the expense of managing the underlying infrastructure, among other things.
Forrester analyzed the costs and benefits of Alert Logic for the composite “Organization” and determined that Alert Logic provides more than $1.1 million in benefits over a three year period.
Cybersecurity Staffing
There is effectively zero percent unemployment in cybersecurity, and analysts estimate that there are more than 350,000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the United States alone. That means finding individuals with the necessary knowledge and skills is challenging, and if you do find them you will pay a premium to hire and retain them. Then you need to consider the cost of ongoing professional training as well. Forrester estimates that the “Organization” saves $712,021 over three years in security staffing costs.
Compliance and Regulatory Staffing
Understanding and managing security compliance efforts is a unique subset of cybersecurity that requires specific expertise. Alert Logic helps customers achieve GDPR Compliance, SOX COBIT compliance, HIPAA Compliance, PCI Compliance, and SOC 2 Compliance, as well as adherence to standards like NIST, ISO, and the CIS Benchmarks. Relying on Alert Logic rather than maintaining this capability in-house results in a $242,468 benefit for the “Organization”.
Infrastructure and Storage
Implementing and managing cybersecurity in-house requires extensive investment in servers, network equipment, software, and storage. Offloading most of this back-end infrastructure and storage, as well as the annual licensing associated with maintaining software enables the “Organization” to avoid $59,684 of cost.
DIY Cybersecurity Is Expensive
One of the most important realizations from Forrester TEI study is that just because you can do something yourself, doesn’t mean you should. There is a wide variety of things that a company could theoretically do on its own, yet most choose to outsource. When you consider the costs of purchasing and maintaining unique equipment required for the task, and hiring and training personnel with the skills to use the equipment effectively, it is generally more cost-effective and delivers better results to outsource to companies that focus specifically on that function.
The Forrester study points out that the customers interviewed agreed that do-it-yourself (DIY) cybersecurity is expensive and requires significant ongoing investment in resources and expertise to do effectively. Alert Logic SIEMless Threat Management provides comprehensive and effective cybersecurity with a solid ROI and lower costs than what the customers can do on their own.
Lee Ramsey, co-founder of Pre-Fi, explained, “We would have needed multiple vendors on board to be able to do what we are doing with just Alert Logic. If I were talking to one of my colleagues in the industry who is looking for a cybersecurity solution, I would recommend Alert Logic, hands down.”
Check out the Forrester TEI Study
Cybersecurity is challenging, and it is not a box you can check or a product you can buy. The cost of implementing and maintaining cybersecurity adds up quickly. Alert Logic customers get effective cybersecurity with less stress and greater peace of mind while benefiting the bottom line at the same time.
To learn more, check out the complete report for yourself. Click here to download The Total Economic Impact of Alert Logic SIEMless Threat Management.
