Scott Woodgate reviews Forrester’s TEI study, highlighting how Microsoft Defender provides 242% ROI through AI-powered automation, rapid threat response, tool consolidation, and integration with Microsoft Sentinel, benefitting SecOps teams and security leaders.

Microsoft Defender Delivers 242% ROI Over Three Years

Overview

Scott Woodgate summarizes the 2025 Forrester Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study findings, demonstrating that Microsoft Defender can deliver a 242% return on investment (ROI) over three years for organizations. The study is based on real-world customer interviews and showcases benefits such as tool consolidation, operational efficiency with AI, and rapid payback on investment.

Key Insights from the TEI Study

  • Financial Benefits:
    • $17.8M in net benefits over three years.
    • Investment payback achieved in under six months.
    • Net present value (NPV) of $12.6M for organizations using Defender.
  • Operational Efficiencies:
    • Defender reduces the mean time to acknowledge threats (MTTA) from 30 minutes to 15 minutes.
    • Mean time to resolve incidents (MTTR) drops from up to three hours to under one hour.
    • Built-in automation and AI help analysts act quickly and accurately.
  • Security Tool Consolidation:
    • Streamlines management by reducing the number of separate security tools needed.
    • $12M in cost reduction from vendor consolidation.
    • $2.4M saved through SecOps optimization and $2.8M through reduced breach costs.
  • AI and Automation:
    • AI-driven threat detection and response improve security posture.
    • Automated processes decrease alert fatigue and make threat prioritization easier.
  • Integration with Microsoft Sentinel:
    • Unified security platform with SIEM capabilities.
    • Enables seamless incident response and correlation across hybrid/multicloud environments.
    • Supports Kusto Query Language (KQL) for advanced detection without extensive coding.

Challenges Addressed

  • Organizations face increasing security complexity due to fragmented tools, legacy infrastructure, and alert overload.
  • The lack of integrated solutions makes incident response slower and less effective.
  • Defender and Sentinel provide a unified, scalable platform that addresses these weaknesses by:
    • Integrating with both Microsoft and third-party tools.
    • Offering a cohesive user experience for better visibility and threat response.
    • Reducing cognitive load on security analysts.

Customer Testimonial

“What surprised me was how interconnected it is with Microsoft’s tooling, and not just their security tooling but also in the way you manage your devices. I can see everything about Intune, audit logs for Azure—it’s just there. I didn’t have to intentionally turn it on.”

— Manager of Cyberdefense, Consumer Packaged Goods

Takeaways for Security Leaders

  • Consolidate and Save: Defender reduces tool sprawl and licensing overhead, freeing up both budget and staff.
  • Modernize Operations: Built-in automation, AI, and Sentinel integrations help remediate threats up to 30% faster.
  • Unify Security Management: Defender’s centralized approach improves visibility and reduces risk across hybrid and multicloud environments.

Learn More

For further information about methodology and financial calculations, see the full Forrester TEI report.

This post appeared first on “Microsoft Security Blog”. Read the entire article here