Palo Alto takes a big bite out of IBM QRadar security

Palo Alto Networks has completed its purchase of IBM's QRadar SaaS service, spending $500 million to buy up customer share for PAN's next-gen AI security Cortex platform.

Neither company is commenting but this looks like a straight customer grab, with IBM promising a "seamless and cost-free migration" to PAN's Cortex system. Over 1,000 Big Blue consultants have been trained on the system and costs shouldn't rise for eligible customers, it said.

"Working with Palo Alto Networks will be a strategic advantage for IBM as our two companies partner on advanced threat protection, response, and security operations using Cortex XSIAM and watsonx, backed by IBM Consulting," CEO Arvind Krishna said in a canned statement.

"At the same time, IBM will continue innovating to help secure organizations' hybrid cloud environments and AI initiatives, focusing our investments on data security and identity and access management technologies."

According to PAN's buzzword bingo-heavy release, the Cortex platform will cover security information and event management (SIEM), security orchestration, automation and response (SOAR) - which was tech bought from security maven Bruce Schneier in 2016, attack surface management (ASM) and the important extended detection and response (XDR), the current phrase for applying AI to fix issues faster than admins.

"We are on a mission to help organizations transform their security operations and harness the potential of Precision AI-powered platforms to better protect their businesses," said PAN CEO Nikesh Arora.

"Our partnership with IBM reinforces our commitment to innovation and our conviction in the tremendous benefit of QRadar customers adopting Cortex XSIAM for a robust, data-driven security platform that offers transformative efficiency and effectiveness in defending against evolving cyber threats."

The practical result of this is that IBM is shifting to PAN, and not just the payers. Around a quarter of a million IBM staff will be using PAN's Prisma SASE 3.0 security software - there's going to be some heavy training ahead.

Big Blue takes a payoff to preserve shareholder value, and it's all about PAN's Cortex XSIAM AI platform from now on. The security giant is betting on XSIAM to grab a significant share of the security management market, and buying IBM's business is a logical move. ®