You don’t prove cybersecurity ROI by talking about threats.
You prove it by showing how security creates efficiency, resilience, and revenue protection, in a language your CFO speaks.
This issue kicks off our new series, “Cyber ROI in Practice,” where we turn security talk into business results.
Here are 3 high-impact wins you can show before the quarter closes.
1. Cut the Tool Bloat — Fast.
The ROI: Save 15–30% on annual spend by consolidating redundant tools.
Most security teams use 50+ tools — but only 20% of them deliver real value.
Start by identifying overlap in:
Endpoint protection + EDR + MDR stacks
Duplicate monitoring dashboards
Multiple threat intel feeds with similar coverage
Quick Win Framework:
Audit: Map every tool to a business function (not a feature).
Quantify: Estimate cost vs. usage (you’ll find idle licenses fast).
Act: Merge or eliminate low-value vendors during renewal cycles.
Pro tip: Tie every reduction to measurable savings and reduced alert fatigue — CFOs love both.
2. Automate the Mundane
The ROI: Free up 20% of analyst time = fewer hires, faster MTTR.
Security automation is one of the easiest ROI stories you can tell — and you don’t need a full SOAR platform.
Start with:
Automated phishing triage
Identity hygiene checks (disable inactive accounts weekly)
Scheduled patch status reports via Slack or email
Business Framing:
“We saved 40 analyst hours per month, equivalent to one FTE, without cutting headcount.”
Pro tip: Track time saved in FTE equivalents and show how that capacity was reinvested into risk reduction.
3. Quantify Downtime Avoided
The ROI: Every minute of uptime has a dollar value. Use it.
If you’ve improved response time, tightened identity controls, or patched faster — quantify it. Use a simple formula:
Average downtime cost per hour × hours avoided = ROI in real dollars
Even if you don’t have perfect data, directional estimates matter. Example:
Avoiding one ransomware outage = ~$220K saved for mid-market orgs
Reducing breach likelihood by 10% = $50K in avoided loss
Pro tip: Build a “Resilience Value Dashboard” — track security KPIs in financial language (availability, uptime, loss avoided).
The Takeaway
Your CFO doesn’t want to see controls, they want to see cause and effect:
“We invested $X, and it reduced downtime, spend, or risk by $Y.”
Security is no longer just cost avoidance, it’s a growth enabler when framed right.
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