The Security Platform Is Dead. Long Live the Security Platform

A 2024 Gartner® survey of 162 large enterprises shows organizations running an average of 45 cybersecurity tools. It's no surprise, then, that 52% of executives cite complexity as the biggest barrier to effective security operations.

While mid-market organizations typically run fewer tools, smaller IT and security teams mean they often face equal—or greater—operational complexity.

Why Security Platforms Emerged

The industry's answer to tool sprawl has been the security platform: a consolidated approach designed to reduce complexity by replacing multiple point products. In principle, platforms promise tighter integration, improved visibility across the attack surface, better alert correlation, and faster response.

Research supports this direction. The 2025 IBM Institute for Business Value report notes that organizations with higher security platform maturity identify and contain incidents more quickly.

Consolidation Doesn't Always Equal a Platform

Vendor consolidation is accelerating. A 2025 Gartner survey found that 62% of companies are actively consolidating suppliers, with another 36% planning to do so in the next three years. However, consolidation often targets cost reduction, procurement efficiency, or contract simplification—not necessarily platform integration.

To capitalize on this trend, many vendors expand through acquisition. Sometimes the technology fit is real; sometimes it's more about optics or upsell potential. The result is not always a true platform experience.

When "Platform" Becomes a Marketplace

Growth by acquisition isn't new, and some vendors execute it well. But integrating technologies, teams, and cultures is hard. In many cases, platforms devolve into loosely connected product portfolios with a shared UI rather than genuine architectural integration. This creates the illusion of simplicity without delivering the promised operational gains.

The Enterprise Mega-Platform Question

Palo Alto Networks has long championed platformization. Its announced acquisition of CyberArk reignited debate around whether identity can be successfully integrated into a large security platform.

While most agree identity is critical in today's de-perimeterized environment, skepticism remains. Some industry observers have questioned whether mega-platforms risk becoming complex "Frankenstein" environments that are difficult to deploy and manage.

Agility vs. Scale

Cybersecurity Ventures estimates cybercrime will cost the global economy $10.5 trillion in 2025. With stakes this high, attackers will continue to innovate quickly. Historically, many defensive breakthroughs come from agile startups and mid-sized specialists focused heavily on R&D.

That innovation isn't slowing. Crunchbase reports $9.4 billion invested in cybersecurity and privacy startups in the first half of 2025 alone, while IT-Harvest tracks more than 4,000 vendors and 10,000 products. Enterprises will continue to adopt best-of-breed tools where needed.

Organizational Reality Slows Platform Adoption

In many organizations, security ownership is fragmented. Budgets, tools, and accountability are often spread across teams—endpoint security with the CISO, operations with IT, cloud security elsewhere.

This fragmentation makes platform decisions difficult. Even when considered, vendors face large buying committees and long sales cycles, with no guarantee of consensus.

A Better Fit for the Mid-Market

Large enterprises can afford both platforms and point solutions. Mid-market organizations rarely can. For them, the right platform can dramatically simplify security operations.

Some vendors are now designing platforms specifically for mid-market needs, based on a realistic understanding of team size, skills, and priorities.

Less Bloat, Less Risk, Lower Cost

Rather than replicating enterprise-scale platforms, these solutions focus on essential capabilities only. By eliminating unnecessary features, they reduce complexity, shrink the attack surface, and lower the total cost of ownership—from acquisition to ongoing management.

Security Across the Full Attack Lifecycle

Many XDR platforms assume dedicated SecOps teams and focus heavily on response. That model doesn't work for organizations with one or two security generalists.

For mid-market teams, platforms must reduce response burden while emphasizing prevention. The most effective platforms span the full attack lifecycle:

• Prevention: Visibility into the attack surface and critical vulnerabilities helps prioritize remediation and reduce exposure.
• Protection: Pre-execution blocking remains foundational, especially for vendors rooted in endpoint security.
• Detection and Response: Native agents, integrations, and APIs across endpoints, identities, cloud, networks, and email simplify triage, correlation, and reporting—often determining whether an incident becomes a breach.

What Comes Next

Threat evolution isn't slowing, and most mid-market organizations won't suddenly gain enterprise-scale budgets or headcount. The challenges remain.

While analysts watch closely to see whether enterprise mega-platforms deliver on their promise, mid-market IT leaders have a clearer opportunity today. Purpose-built security platforms can reduce complexity, improve outcomes, and drive real operational efficiency.

As competition increases in this space, innovation will follow—benefiting the organizations that need it most.

If you'd like to explore how to choose the right platform for your organization, see the Buyer's Guide: Security Platforms for Mid-Market Businesses.

About the Author: Duncan Mills is Senior Director of Product Marketing and Go-to-Market at Bitdefender, with over 20 years of experience in cybersecurity. With a background in engineering and technical consulting, he specializes in shaping market narratives, product positioning, and platform-led go-to-market strategies for global security audiences.