A CISO I once worked with had a wall-sized diagram of their security stack—dozens of tools, acronyms, vendors. It looked like a subway map drawn by someone who hadn’t slept in a week.
But when a simulated phishing attack hit their users? Nearly half clicked.
It was a painful reminder: cybersecurity isn’t just about the tools you buy. It’s about the value you extract from what you already have.
In a world where security budgets are tightening and attack surfaces are expanding, the organizations that win will be the ones who optimize—not overspend.
Let’s talk about how.
First, Stop Chasing Shiny Objects
We’ve all seen it: the impulse to buy “just one more tool” to close a gap, to check a box, or to please the board. But layering products without clear integration or strategy leads to diminishing returns and operational fatigue.
Before you spend another dollar, ask:
- Are we fully leveraging the features of the tools we already have?
- Do we understand where our real risks are—or are we reacting to fear?
- Is this a technology problem… or a process problem?
Most of the time, it’s the latter.
A Methodology to Maximize Cyber Value
Here’s a simple but effective framework I’ve used to help teams extract more value from their cybersecurity stack:
1. Map What You Have
Create a current-state inventory—not just tools, but use cases. For each product, ask:
- What problem is it solving?
- Who owns it?
- Is it integrated with other systems?
- Are we using 80% of its capability… or just 10%?
You’ll often find unused modules, siloed ownership, or overlapping functionality.
2. Identify Real-World Gaps
Use recent incidents (internal or external), tabletop exercises, or red/blue team assessments to reveal:
- Operational blind spots
- Slow detection or response times
- Missed alerts or alert fatigue
- Inconsistent processes across teams
Let data—not vendor demos—drive your priorities.
3. Prioritize High-Impact Improvements
Instead of investing in new technology, prioritize:
- Process maturity: Are playbooks clear, current, and actionable?
- Training & awareness: Are staff empowered to detect and escalate issues?
- Tool optimization: Can we tune alerts, enable automation, or reduce noise?
- Integration: Can we eliminate manual handoffs or unify visibility across tools?
Even small changes—like automating phishing triage or better tuning your SIEM—can drastically improve your security posture.
4. Assign Ownership & Feedback Loops
Every improvement needs a clear owner and a metric to track. And once you implement a change, bake in review cycles:
- Are incident response times improving?
- Are false positives decreasing?
- Are business units feeling more supported—or less?
Security is a team sport. Shared goals and open feedback prevent security from becoming a black box.
Areas Often Overlooked (But Packed With Value)
Let’s be real—no one’s getting excited about process documentation or user training. But that’s where a lot of your untapped value lives.
Here are high-leverage areas worth revisiting:
- End-user training: Not just annual check-the-box modules. Think role-based, scenario-driven, and recurring microlearning.
- Incident response drills: Simulations reveal more than reports ever will.
- Access management hygiene: Often neglected, but critical. Least privilege, MFA coverage, and offboarding are foundational.
- Log management and SIEM tuning: Garbage in = garbage out. But clean, prioritized alerts? Game-changing.
- Third-party risk processes: Is your vendor risk program real, or just a questionnaire?
None of these require a new purchase. But all of them can make or break your security outcomes.
Bottom Line: Sweat the Assets
You don’t need more tools—you need more traction.
Before chasing the next big platform, squeeze every drop of value out of what’s already in your environment. That means better processes, smarter training, clearer ownership, and a relentless focus on outcomes over optics.
Because in cybersecurity, value isn’t measured by how much you buy—it’s measured by how well you operate.
A Final Thought
Security isn’t a product you install. It’s a capability you build. And like all valuable capabilities, it demands iteration, discipline, and ownership.
The good news? You probably already have 80% of what you need. Now the real question is: what’s stopping you from turning that into 100% of the value?
