The future belongs to CISOs brave enough to say, “I don’t need one vendor. I need the right vendors.”
Everyone is talking about it: consolidation. Fewer vendors, less hassle, one platform that solves everything. Sounds logical, right? But let’s be honest: to this day, that is a myth.
I catch myself saying this many times too, when I pitched and mentioned consolidation and complexity reduction as the next step to get and stay in control.
Yet… The reality is that many organisations that have supposedly “consolidated” are now using more vendors than three years ago. A big platform plus a few point solutions to fill in the gaps. CISOs tell us: “We bought the platform to reduce complexity. Now we have the platform AND 17 separate tools with it.” That’s not consolidation. That’s expensive false security.
The promise and the hard truth
Platform vendors promise to cover 80% of your security. But that missing piece of 20%? That’s where the incidents happen. That’s where data breaches happen. That’s where you miss the attack that really matters. Gartner and Forrester are also clear about this: platforms provide overview and uniformity, but they are rarely complete and often move too slowly.
Innovation happens at the edges, not at the core. The best point solutions catch zero-days earlier, evolve faster and adapt to new threats faster. That’s not an opinion, that’s just what the numbers show.
And yes, I know what you are thinking now
“But integration is a disaster, right?”
It was a disaster, we should say now.
APIs, AI and modern orchestration have changed the game. We know organisations that connected more than 20 specialised tools in six weeks. Their platform vendor had taken almost a year to do so. So let’s stop with that old argument: integration is no longer a problem.
So where does a platform fit into this story?
Don’t get me wrong: I am not against platforms. Take Check Point Infinity, for example. It is powerful, broad and offers a serious backbone: network, endpoint, cloud and email, all under one policy. For many organisations, that’s a great foundation. But the real power of such a platform is not in the idea that it solves everything. It is in the openness, the ability to integrate with the right additional vendors. That’s where a smart CISO stands out.
The courage to choose
Consolidation feels comfortable. One contract. One point of contact. One story towards your board. And yes, it sounds like it will save you costs. But practice often shows the opposite. So the future does not belong to the CISO who clings to one vendor, but to the CISO who dares to say:
“I don’t need one vendor. I need the right vendors.”
Who puts speed and flexibility above convenience. Who understands that security is not a checkbox, but an ongoing chess game in which smart investment is ultimately cheaper and more secure.
In conclusion
It is time to be honest with yourself, your teams and your management. Security does not get better from false security. It gets better from guts, from choices, and from an ecosystem that actually works.
The future belongs to the brave.
Are you one of them?
I would love to get in touch with you to discuss these insights together or to help you make brave decisions.