Maximize Your Security ROI: 2021 Forrester Consulting TEI Study

Recent data breaches and cybersecurity events impacting the global community have placed a spotlight on corporate and government IT security teams and renewed scrutiny on the policies and practices that keep sensitive data out of the hands of cybercriminals and other bad actors. Reducing costs, achieving a rapid return on investment (ROI), and increasing security and IT operations efficiency for better business outcomes are all typical mandates for cybersecurity investments, but if the investment does not ultimately improve organizational security, are those other goals relevant? Decision-makers should also consider unifying to a central platform, enabling automation, and leveraging cloud-delivered services for real-time protection to ensure that any new solution is good for both the business and for the bottom line.

Palo Alto Networks commissioned Forrester Consulting to conduct a Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study to examine the value that enterprises could achieve by deploying Palo Alto Networks for network security and SD-WAN. The TEI goes beyond the traditional total cost of ownership (TCO) and ROI analyses by incorporating risk and potential strategic impact into the business case quantification and analysis.

For this study, Forrester spoke with nine business decision-makers and surveyed 133 customers about the benefits, costs, risks, and flexibility of Palo Alto Networks for network security and SD-WAN. These Palo Alto Networks’ customers had anywhere from 3,000 to 300,000 employees and represented a range of industries including healthcare, financial services, government, and retail. Based on these customers’ experiences, Forrester developed a composite organization for the study and built out a three-year financial model to reflect the costs and benefits of the investment.

So what were the results?

247% ROI Over Three Years

Deploying Palo Alto Networks for network security and SD-WAN results in significant financial and organizational benefits for the composite organization. Namely, the organization achieves a 247% return on investment and $40.1 million in benefits with a net present value (NPV) of $28.5 million over three years. These benefits are spread across nine different categories, including efficiency gains for IT, security, and end users; cost savings from sunsetting legacy technology; and the reduced risk of a data breach.

For full details, join our Maximize Your Security ROI in 2021 webcast on February 10.

Increased Security and IT Operations Efficiency

As a result of the Palo Alto Networks investment, the composite organization reduces the number of security incidents requiring manual investigation by 35%, decreases mean-time-to-resolution (MTTR) by 20%, and reduces the number of devices requiring reimaging by 45%, saving $5.1 million over three years. Palo Alto Networks’ Next Generation Firewalls (NGFWs) and Cloud-Delivered Security Services drive these gains, significantly improving visibility into the organization’s network and introducing automation capabilities that decrease the number of critical alerts, including false positives. Additionally, the composite reduces MTTR because analysts can now view all the data they need in a single dashboard. With enhanced protection from the same Security Services, the composite organization experiences fewer malware infections and other issues with devices, again reducing workload for the IT operations team.

Data Breach Risk Reduction by 45%

The composite organization decreases the likelihood of a data breach by 45% after three years by deploying a Zero Trust security architecture and applying consistent security policies across the entire organization using Panorama centralized management. Cloud-Delivered Security Services supplements the existing SecOps team by adding 24/7 monitoring and vulnerability and threat prevention and supporting up-to-the-second protection from zero-day threats with WildFire.

More Than $10M in Cost Savings

The composite organization realizes two additional quantifiable benefits from deploying Palo Alto Networks’ NGFWs and Cloud-Delivered Security Services that are reflected in the financial model. First, the composite org saves $9.9 million from sunsetting and rationalizing legacy security solutions and infrastructure. Second, it reallocates seven full-time security and IT professionals away from platform and solution management to higher-value, more impactful projects and roles saving $1.9 million over three years.

Forrester quantified five additional benefits associated with deploying Palo Alto Networks for network security and SD-WAN. For more details on the benefits above and additional quantified and unquantified benefits found in the study, please review the full study or the product-focused spotlights for Cloud-Delivered Security Services, Prisma Access, and SD-WAN.

$28.5M In NPV Based on Improved Security, Efficiency and Productivity

To calculate NPV, Forrester noted four separate cost categories associated with the Palo Alto Networks investment. The categories included installation and deployment costs, training for ongoing management, Palo Alto Networks costs (hardware, licensing, etc.), and SD-WAN deployment costs. These costs total $11.5 million over three years versus $40.1 million in benefits for a net-present value of $28.5 million — a significant financial benefit.

Learn more about how deploying Palo Alto Networks for network security and SD-WAN can significantly improve organizational security posture and modernize security operations and management in a February 10th webcast, Maximize Your Security ROI in 2021. Join guest speakers from Forrester Consulting and the State of North Dakota as they discuss the costs, benefits, and risks of security investments and provide examples of successful outcomes.

The Total Economic Impact™ of Palo Alto Networks For Network Security and SD-WAN, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Palo Alto Networks, January 2021.