Watch this space – cyber security M&A in the SIEM market

Microsoft’s launch of Azure Sentinel and Google’s introduction of Backstory – both in Q1 2019 – signal change is afoot in the $6.75bn¹ Security Information and Event Management (“SIEM”) market. This change is occurring in the context of the rapid adoption of cloud computing and enterprise mobility, which paved the way for a new generation of SIEM technology.

‘Next Gen SIEM’ technology has moved beyond on-premise information and event management to focus on advanced cloud-based threat detection and response. It leverages behavioral analytics, AI, machine learning and big data to provide smarter and more effective solutions. All of this is desperately needed by the cyber security industry, which is facing a higher number of threats and a severe shortage of security professionals to address them.

The advent of Next Gen SIEM products, such as Microsoft’s Azure Sentinel, Google’s Backstory and AWS’s GuardDog, has shaken-up the market landscape, introducing major cloud providers to challenge the market incumbents, such as Splunk, Micro Focus, IBM, LogRhythm, Fortinet and McAfee.

Cloud-based SIEM is likely to quickly establish itself as the preferred market solution given its greater capacity for storing vast data logs and processing speed compared to on-premise solutions. It also avoids the burden of setting-up, maintaining and scaling the infrastructure required by traditional SIEMs.

As a result, cloud providers such a Microsoft, Google and Amazon are well-placed to dominate the SIEM market in the future. This leaves a strategic dilemma for traditional incumbents – do they incubate cloud-based solutions organically or acquire them inorganically?

The changes in the SIEM market are still in their embryonic stages, but there is certainly early evidence of SIEM companies using M&A to acquire those capabilities required to compete with the likes of Microsoft, Google, and Amazon. Despite relatively limited M&A activity to date, the SIEM market appears well-poised for a significant uptick looking forward over the remainder of 2019 and 2020. So watch this space!

¹‘Worldwide Next Gen SIEM Market Analysis and Forecasts 2018-2023: Extended Opportunities in Managed Service Providers and Cloud Providers’, Research & Markets