How to Avoid Cybersecurity Tool Sprawl and Resource Waste
Discover why 75% of organizations are consolidating security vendors.*
The hidden paradox threatening security teams
Security teams face an uncomfortable truth: despite record cybersecurity investments, organizations are struggling more than ever to keep pace with threats. The problem isn’t a lack of technology, but rather there is too ‘much’ of it.
According to Gartner’s 2025 research, the average enterprise now operates 45 different cybersecurity tools. That’s not a robust security posture; it’s a management nightmare. With over 3,000 vendors competing in the cybersecurity market, organizations have accumulated tools at an unsustainable pace, creating what industry analysts call “tool sprawl.”
The consequences are severe and measurable. Security professionals waste 25% of their time dealing with false positives from poorly integrated security tools. When alerts from different vendors don’t correlate, genuine threats slip through the cracks. In 2024 alone, 57% of organizations learned about their own breaches from external sources rather than internal tools, a damning indictment of fragmented security architectures.
This comprehensive guide examines why tool sprawl has become the industry’s most pressing operational challenge, how it undermines security effectiveness, and why external threat intelligence programs offer a compelling case study for successful consolidation. Drawing on research from Gartner, Forrester, and Optiv, we provide actionable strategies for security leaders navigating this critical transformation.
What you’ll discover in this essential guide
Understanding how we got here
- The accumulation problem: how tactical decisions compound over time
- The true cost of tool sprawl beyond license fees
- Why “best-of-breed” approaches create security blind spots
- The hidden operational costs consuming 40% of security budgets
The business and security case for consolidation
- Financial impact: Direct costs, hidden operational expenses, and critical opportunity costs
- Security implications: Why 75% of organizations are pursuing vendor consolidation
- Operational efficiency: How unified platforms reduce analyst burnout and improve threat detection
- Platform approaches: Moving from fragmented point solutions to integrated architectures
10 essential tips for successful consolidation
From auditing your current environment to managing change effectively, we provide a practical framework including:
- Creating capability matrices to identify redundancy
- Selecting core strategic platforms without over-consolidating
- Running parallel systems during transition
- Addressing internal resistance and vendor lock-in concerns
For organizations looking to deepen their understanding of external threats, explore CybelAngel’s 2025 External Threat Intelligence Report, which reveals a 51% increase in security alerts and 42% rise in reported ransomware attacks.
Why this matters now
With over 80% of organizations expecting less than 10% budget growth in 2025, according to Kovrr’s analysis, money spent on redundant tools is money unavailable for genuine security improvements. The shift toward vendor consolidation represents one of the most significant trends in enterprise cybersecurity today—moving from a dramatic increase from just 29% in 2020 to 75% of organizations actively consolidating in 2025.
This isn’t just about cost reduction. It’s about building security programs that actually work. When security teams spend less time managing tools and more time defending against threats, everyone wins.
* From Overload to Optimization: Gartner’s Approach to Rationalizing Cybersecurity Tools: Gartner, Inc. (Dionisio Zumerle, June 10, 2025)
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