The Shift to Unified Security Platforms

The modern enterprise is everywhere. Users, apps and data are spread across the globe, and attackers are moving faster than ever to exploit the gaps. Digital transformation, cloud adoption and AI investment have accelerated the pace of operations, but they have also expanded the attack surface and created new risks.

For years, the go-to defense model was best-of-breed security. Pick the “best” tool for each job and assume stacking them together equals better protection. In reality, this practice has left security teams with dozens of disconnected tools, each speaking its own language and storing its own data. Analysts are stuck piecing together fragmented signals and data from multiple consoles. That slows investigations and makes it easier for adversaries to hide.

The reality is clear: security teams need fewer tools that work together to deliver a unified view of threats. At Rackspace, we have embraced this approach to security operations, using the Microsoft Unified SecOps platform as the foundation for our Managed XDR service to bring SIEM, SOAR, XDR, EDR, VMDR and threat intelligence into one environment.

The cost of complexity

The Foundry–Microsoft June 2024 Study presents a clear picture of tool sprawl and its impact on security operations. Foundry, part of IDG Inc. and the publisher behind industry-leading brands such as CIO and CSO, is a global technology media and research organization recognized for authoritative market intelligence in IT and cybersecurity. Commissioned by Microsoft, Foundry conducted the study in June 2024, surveying 156 senior IT and security leaders at organizations with 500 or more employees. All respondents had primary responsibility for security management, reflecting the perspectives of senior decision-makers overseeing enterprise security.

The findings reveal that organizations are running an average of 14.2 different security tools, with 21% operating more than 20. More than one third (35%) have increased their tool count in the past year. Those relying purely on best-of-breed products tend to run even more tools, which compounds the workload required to manage them.

The research also confirms that more tools do not necessarily mean better protection. In fact, organizations with higher tool counts reported a greater number of security incidents, averaging 15.3 incidents per year compared to 10.5 for those with fewer tools. Two factors stood out as the biggest blockers to improving security posture: the complexity of the current environment and poor visibility across the security landscape.

Point solutions made sense when threats were simpler and typically contained within a single domain. Today’s reality is totally different. Attackers chain together multiple techniques across devices, identities, networks and cloud environments. Without a platform that can merge these signals into a unified incident view, analysts are forced to reconstruct the kill chain manually, slowing both detection and response.

It’s no surprise that 58% of respondents ranked supplier consolidation as a top priority for the next 12 months. The percentage climbs to 79% among organizations running more than 10 tools and 91% for those following a best-of-breed model. The shift is toward fewer, more integrated solutions — because visibility is only as strong as the data brought together in one place.

AI in the hands of defenders and attackers

AI is now central to security operations. According to the same survey, two-thirds of organizations (66%) already use AI in their SOC, with another 22% running pilots or proofs of concept. Defensively, AI correlates alerts, prioritizes by severity, enriches investigations and can even trigger automated disruption when a live attack is detected.

At Rackspace, we’ve introduced the Rackspace AI Security Engine (RAISE) and its Smart Triage capability to accelerate incident understanding and automatically enrich context. With RAISE, our analysts can move from “what happened” to “what needs to be done” in minutes.

Attackers are also embracing AI, using it to craft convincing phishing lures, automate reconnaissance and scale attacks faster than humans can respond. That is why AI needs to be embedded in the same unified platform analysts already rely on, so it can detect and disrupt threats before they escalate.

Explore how AI is also transforming ransomware response in my latest blog:
https://fair.rackspace.com/insights/ai-powered-data-extortion-new-era-ransomware/

Generative AI is especially valuable post-breach. It can summarize thousands of alerts, scripts and logs into a plain-language incident brief in seconds. Analysts skip the hours of manual data gathering and can move directly into triage and containment.

How a unified platform changes the game
A unified security operations platform integrates core capabilities — from SIEM and SOAR to XDR, EDR, VMDR, cloud security and threat intelligence — under one data model with shared automation and AI. This enhances five critical areas:

1. Exposure management

• Continuous, contextual visibility across the entire digital estate
• Advanced attack path modelling to show how vulnerabilities could be chained together
• Prioritized remediation guidance spanning devices, identities, apps, data and multicloud

With this visibility, analysts move beyond chasing isolated alerts and can block the most dangerous paths before an attack begins.

2. Detection and response

• Coordinated defense across identities, endpoints, cloud apps, email and networks
• XDR-powered attack disruption to stop ransomware, BEC and APT campaigns mid-stream
• Automated playbooks to triage alerts and actions for a faster MTTR

When an automated disruption fires, the SOC receives a full incident summary, recommended actions and the option to generate a leadership-ready report instantly.

3. Endpoint detection and response (EDR) integration

• Deep visibility into endpoint activity with behavioral analytics to detect malicious patterns
• Real-time correlation between endpoint telemetry and other security data in the unified platform
• Automated containment actions such as isolating compromised devices or killing malicious processes

By integrating EDR into the unified platform, endpoint-level events become part of the full attack story rather than standalone alerts. Analysts can see exactly how endpoint compromise ties into identity abuse, lateral movement and cloud exploitation.

4. Vulnerability management, detection and response (VMDR)

• Continuous assessment of asset vulnerabilities across servers, endpoints and cloud workloads
• Risk-based prioritization using threat intelligence to focus on vulnerabilities actively exploited in the wild
• Direct orchestration from detection to patching or compensating controls via automation

With VMDR fully integrated, vulnerability data is not siloed in a separate dashboard. Instead, it flows into the same environment where threat detection, incident response and remediation are coordinated. This ensures the SOC isn’t only reacting to incidents but actively reducing the attack surface.

5. Resiliency against repeat attacks

• Mapping attacker TTPs to posture controls
• Post-incident feedback loops to prevent recurrence
• Advanced hunting capabilities with natural-language Kusto Query Language (KQL) generation

This creates a closed-loop cycle where every incident strengthens the organization’s defenses.

Unified security in action

At Rackspace, we use the Microsoft Unified SecOps portal as the core of our Managed XDR offering. It unifies SIEM, XDR, automation and threat intelligence in one place, infused with generative AI and our RAISE Smart Triage automation. The result: faster detection, investigation and response — with less complexity for our customers and stronger security outcomes.

The takeaway is clear: the era of juggling 20+ disconnected security tools is ending. The future belongs to integrated platforms that combine visibility, AI and automation to give SOC teams everything they need in one place.

Learn how Rackspace can strengthen your security posture with Managed XDR here.