Too Many Tools, Too Little Control: Tackling the Security Tool Sprawl Problem

Written by David (DJ) Morimanno, Field CTO, North America at Xalient

8 October, 2025

As cyber threats grow more advanced, organisations are investing heavily in cybersecurity. Forrester predicts that the global cost of cybercrime will reach $12 trillion by the end of 2025, yet despite rising budgets, many security leaders report falling confidence in their ability to detect and recover from attacks.

A major reason? Security tool sprawl — the unchecked expansion of security technologies that erodes visibility, slows response times, and undermines trust in operations.

According to Kaspersky, 74% of organisations now use multi-vendor security stacks. Over a third (36%) of cybersecurity professionals cite excessive complexity, while 43% struggle with compatibility issues. It’s clear: tool sprawl has become one of the most pressing cybersecurity challenges facing modern enterprises.

What Is Security Tool Sprawl and Why It Matters

Security tool sprawl occurs when organisations deploy too many overlapping or poorly integrated security products without a unified strategy. Often, these tools are added reactively — in response to compliance audits, new regulations, or specific incidents — creating a fragmented ecosystem that burdens teams and reduces overall resilience.

This fragmentation has real consequences:

  • Inconsistent telemetry across tools creates visibility gaps, delaying threat detection.
  • Analysts must constantly switch between consoles, reducing operational efficiency.
  • Policy drift and misconfigurations increase breach risk.


Every additional agent or integration adds complexity, expanding the attack surface. What may appear to be a procurement problem is, in reality, a strategic security issue that undermines Zero Trust principles and operational control 

Why Security Tool Sprawl Persists

Tool sprawl continues because it’s often reactive rather than strategic. Organisations frequently acquire tools to address short-term issues — meeting compliance requirements, responding to breaches, or integrating newly acquired systems after mergers and acquisitions.

Different teams, working with separate budgets, may purchase their own tools without central oversight. The result is duplication, overlap, and misalignment.

Today’s regulatory landscape makes this issue even more urgent. The SEC and European regulators now require rapid, transparent incident reporting, and boards expect CISOs and CIOs to demonstrate the value of every security investment. Fragmented ecosystems make it difficult to correlate data, enforce policies, and maintain compliance, putting both reputation and governance at risk.

The Human and Financial Cost of Tool Sprawl 

The impact of security tool sprawl extends far beyond technology. It affects both people and profit.

For cybersecurity professionals, juggling multiple platforms and interfaces increases cognitive load, slows response times, and leads to fatigue and burnout. The 2025 ISC2 report found that two in five security professionals cite tool complexity as a leading cause of burnout — a direct threat to effective defence.

Financially, the waste is just as serious. Beyond licensing costs, organisations face hidden expenses for maintenance, API management, integration, and training. Research shows that companies may waste 20–30% of their security budgets on redundant or under-used tools. These resources could instead fund Zero Trust adoption, AI-driven threat detection, or post-quantum cryptography readiness.

How to Break the Cycle 

Solving tool sprawl requires a disciplined, architecture-first approach to security.

1. Define your end-state architecture.
Adopt a Zero Trust model with identity as the control plane. Every new tool should align with this framework and demonstrably reduce risk or improve operational efficiency.

2. Conduct tool rationalisation assessments.
Audit existing tools for usage, overlap, cost, and business alignment. Retire those that are redundant or underperforming.

3. Set integration standards.
Update procurement policies to require open APIs, SIEM connectivity, and compatibility with existing architecture.

4. Strengthen governance.
Establish a cross-functional review board to evaluate future purchases and ensure alignment with long-term objectives. Prioritise strategic fit over reactive needs.

By consolidating platforms, adopting multi-function tools, and leveraging managed services, organisations can reduce complexity while improving visibility and security outcomes.

The Broader Imperative: From Fragmentation to Resilience 

Unchecked tool sprawl is a systemic risk that undermines cyber resilience. It slows detection, wastes resources, and weakens the frameworks organisations depend on to maintain trust.

However, tool rationalisation and consolidation deliver measurable advantages:

  • Faster threat detection and response
  • Stronger Zero Trust enforcement
  • Lower costs and improved ROI
  • Reduced analyst fatigue and turnover


Forward-thinking leaders now view consolidation not as a cost-cutting exercise, but as a strategic enabler of resilience and growth.

By shifting from reactive procurement to architecture-led strategy, CIOs and CISOs can reclaim control, enhance visibility, and build the cyber resilience demanded by boards, regulators, and customers alike.

Security tool sprawl is avoidable. By consolidating around a unified control plane and aligning every investment with long-term architectural goals, organisations can turn consolidation into a foundation for next-generation cybersecurity.

Picture of David Morimanno, Field CTO, North America at Xalient

David Morimanno, Field CTO, North America at Xalient

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