It’s estimated that firms on average have between 60 and 75 security tools installed. Although leading vendors logically market the benefits of addressing tools sprawl and complexity through consolidation, the data suggests that more than half the firms are increasing the number of security vendors installed, with a very small percentage able to effect vendor consolidation.

Adding to the challenge is an environment where security operations pros have too many priorities to manage, including identity, vulnerability management, patching, endpoint, security and information event management, antivirus, zero trust, cloud security and more. Finally, firms are investing in artificial intelligence to relieve the crushing labor burden security analysts are facing but are being forced to balance innovation with the daily battle.

In this Breaking Analysis, we preview RSA Conference 2024 with our colleague Erik Bradley of Enterprise Technology Research. We’ll provide a detailed analysis of a recent survey conducted by ETR, perfectly timed ahead of RSA.