For years, cybersecurity buying followed a simple pattern of finding a gap and adding a tool. The result? Stacks filled with overlapping products, weak integrations, and security teams juggling dashboards instead of reducing risk.

Now the pendulum is swinging back. In a Gartner survey, 75% of organizations said they were actively pursuing vendor consolidation in 2022, largely because their environments had become too fragmented to operate efficiently. What used to be a best-of-breed philosophy is starting to look like operational drag.

The push toward consolidation focuses on fixing operational problems such as lost context, slow response, and broken control across systems, and not just owning fewer vendors.

Here’s where the center of gravity is moving.

Security Operations: Control the Telemetry, Control the Workflow

Security operations is one of the clearest areas of consolidation, driven by the push for unified threat detection and response. SecOps platforms sit at the center of detection and response, bringing together logs and endpoint signals within shared investigation workflows.

Historically, most enterprises built this layer using connected tools from different vendors. The approach worked unevenly, required constant upkeep, and often lost context across systems, which opened the door for larger platforms to step in.

Between 2022 and 2024 consolidation accelerated. Cisco’s $28B acquisition of Splunk in March 2024 combined a major network vendor with a leading security analytics platform. Around the same time, mergers such as Exabeam and LogRhythm reflected a broader move toward unified operations platforms that combine scale with advanced detection.

Deal volume supports this trend. Transactions increased significantly from 2023 to 2024, and more than a dozen major acquisitions and mergers reshaped the SIEM and XDR market during this period. By the end of 2024, only a small number of notable independent providers remained. This activity shows consolidation forming around the operational core of security, and the direction continues to strengthen.

In SecOps, consolidation works because it brings detection and response into a single workflow, helping teams contain threats faster and improve day‑to‑day operations.

Identity Security: Convergence into a Platform Pillar

If SecOps is central, identity is fundamental. Modern attacks often move through credentials and privileges, and access across people and systems depends on identity controls.

Between 2020 and 2025, identity‑focused acquisitions increased as organizations adopted Zero Trust models. Major deals such as Okta’s acquisition of Auth0, the consolidation of Ping Identity and ForgeRock, and SailPoint going private brought many identity tools under fewer owners.

During this period, different significant identity‑related acquisitions combined more than a dozen previously independent vendors. A defining moment came in 2025, when Palo Alto Networks agreed to acquire CyberArk for $25B. The deal placed identity security firmly inside a core security platform and reinforced its strategic role.

As a result, the identity market became more concentrated: where many independent identity vendors once operated, only a small number of sizable standalone providers remained by the end of 2025. As identity is embedded more deeply across endpoint and cloud environments, it has become a foundational layer of security infrastructure.

Identity consolidation accelerated because credentials sit at the center of modern attack paths; fragmented control here creates immediate, measurable risk.

Email Security: From Filtering to Trust Infrastructure

Email security has been consolidating for several years, though the nature of the deals has changed over time.

The earlier phase was driven by financial investments. Thoma Bravo’s $12.3B acquisition of Proofpoint (completed August 2021) and Permira’s $5.8B acquisition of Mimecast (completed May 2022) changed ownership in the market. With private equity support, these vendors were able to expand their offerings and move beyond basic email filtering.

More recently, the focus has broadened. DigiCert’s acquisition of Valimail in September 2025 brought zero-trust authentication into the DigiCert ONE platform. Shortly after, Varonis announced its acquisition of SlashNext in September 2025 (reported value up to $150M), linking email threat prevention more closely with data security.

In total, estimates suggest there were around 13 – 14 major email-security M&A deals globally in 2021 – 2025. By the end of this period, the once-crowded field of email security vendors had thinned dramatically: before 2021 there were well over 10 independent players, whereas after 2025 about half sizeable independent providers are left. This activity reflects both consolidation and growth in the category. Email security is extending into authentication and brand protection, with the inbox serving as the initial entry point.

Cloud Security: When Tech Giants Step In

Cloud security is harder to generalize. It remains fast‑moving and crowded with new ideas, shaped by several waves of consolidation over time.

The first wave, between 2015 and 2018, focused on early cloud security startups, with large vendors buying CASB companies (Cloud Access Security Broker) to establish a foothold. A second wave followed from 2019 to 2023, centered on cloud‑native protection platforms, as major security vendors brought key capabilities together into broader cloud security offerings. More than 25 significant acquisitions took place during this period.

By 2023 to 2025, much larger deals began to change the tone. Transactions such as Rubrik’s acquisition of Laminar and Google’s $32B agreement to acquire Wiz pointed to a move toward unified, end‑to‑end cloud security platforms. Google’s deal with Wiz, announced in March 2025 and recently cleared by regulators, showed that large cloud providers are taking direct ownership of key cloud security layers.

For smaller cloud‑native vendors, this shift creates real pressure. Some continue to operate independently, while the growing influence of hyperscalers steadily narrows the competitive landscape.

Data Security: Consolidating, but Not Closed

Data Security Posture Management (DSPM) is further along than many assume, even if the market still appears young. As cloud data breaches increased and privacy rules became stricter, the data security market entered a strong consolidation phase between 2022 and 2024.

Several transactions highlighted this shift. IBM acquired Polar Security in May 2023, Rubrik acquired Laminar in August 2023, and Proofpoint agreed to acquire Normalyze in October 2024.

Over the same period, other large security vendors also brought data protection capabilities directly into their platforms. Deal volume shows the pace of change. In 2024 alone, 44 data protection transactions were recorded, nearly double the previous year, and more than 100 data‑security‑related acquisitions took place across the market between 2022 and 2024. Since mid‑2023, multiple DSPM startups have been absorbed by larger platforms, leaving far fewer independent players.

This acceleration reflects how the category is evolving. Early DSPM tools focused mainly on visibility, while enforcement was limited. As analysts have noted, visibility without control leaves gaps, and platforms that already deliver data loss prevention or access controls are well positioned to close them.

Even so, the category is still developing. Data environments and compliance needs vary widely across organizations, which leaves room for innovation, though the space is more crowded than before.

The Categories That Haven’t Converged, Yet

Not every part of cybersecurity is consolidating at the same speed, even though the overall consolidation wave is expected to continue for years. Industry leaders, including Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora, and research firms such as Gartner, expect the market to trend toward fewer, larger vendors as platform approaches become more common. This direction is pushed by new technology and customer demand for integrated tools, along with financial pressure on smaller, single‑purpose vendors.

GRC: In Active Process, but Broad

Governance, risk, and compliance platforms remain one of the most active areas for acquisitions. A total of 68 GRC‑related deals were recorded in both 2023 and 2024, making it the most active category outside managed security services for two years in a row.

At the same time, directories still list more than 350 GRC software options as of February 2026. That shows how wide the market remains. Buyers want more unified platforms, but regulatory demands and industry differences continue to keep the ecosystem large.

Application Security: Tool Overload Continues

Application security is often described as moving toward platforms, but progress has been uneven.

A ChannelPro and ITPro article citing a Synopsys‑backed survey found that 70% of organizations use more than 10 application security testing tools. This level of fragmentation is built directly into development processes.

Pressure to consolidate is growing, and application and API security are often flagged for more deal activity. AppSec stays closely tied to developer workflows and build pipelines, which slows platform convergence.

OT Security: Specialization Slows Change

Operational technology security brings unique demands tied to industrial systems and safety requirements. These environments do not align easily with traditional IT security models.

Research firms have noted rising acquisition activity as automation vendors add security features and IT providers move into industrial settings. OT and industrial security are also often highlighted as areas likely to see more M&A, but deep specialization continues to slow consolidation.

AI TRiSM: Early Grouping

AI trust, risk, and security management is still taking shape. Market research suggests that parts of this space are beginning to group into a clearer segment.

At this stage, consolidation mostly involves combining related capabilities such as governance and monitoring. Broader deal waves may come later, once standards and regulations become clearer. AI‑driven security and automation are frequently named as areas where larger vendors may buy specialized companies to add new features and speed up delivery.

Looking ahead, consolidation is expected to keep spreading from today’s core markets into newer and still fragmented areas. It tends to move fastest where control of workflows is clear and where telemetry or identity acts as a central control point. It also accelerates when integration problems are immediate and easy to measure.

The pace slows in areas where tools are deeply tied to developer environments or industrial systems, and where regulation or specialization keeps demand divided. These factors continue to protect certain niches, even as overall deal activity grows.

The demand signal from buyers is clear. Most organizations want fewer vendors, but fewer products do not always mean less complexity. In many cases, complexity shifts upward into larger platforms that promise to connect everything under one roof.

The next phase of consolidation will be shaped less by the number of deals and more by outcomes. It will depend on whether platforms can turn combined products into real integration, and whether customers see clear operational gains rather than broader portfolios. Consolidation is moving forward, but unevenly across the market.

© The Times of Israel (Blogs)