The CISO’s Business Case for E5 Consolidation: Cut Costs, Not Coverage

The increasing complexity of security operations has driven organizations to acquire a sprawling arsenal of point solutions. From SIEM and SOAR platforms to EDR and new ZTNA frameworks, this "best-of-breed" philosophy has created significant friction and management challenges. The operational drag is not just anecdotal. Industry data confirms this problem. A 2025 "State of Security" report from Splunk, found that 59% of security leaders say their teams spend too much time on tool maintenance, while 51% report their tools do not integrate well with one another.

This inefficiency leads to a strategic debate. Many security leaders are understandably hesitant to consolidate onto a single platform, concerned about the perceived risks and limitations of vendor lock-in. However, for organizations already in a dedicated Microsoft ecosystem, a powerful business case exists for consolidation. In fact, a 2025 Forrester "Total Economic Impact™" study on Microsoft Defender found that organizations consolidating on the platform achieved a 242% ROI over three years with a payback period of less than 6 months.

With a fully utilized E5 license, a CISO can eliminate redundant licensing fees and conserve significant budget. Then, by pairing the platform with an expert Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP), a savvy leader can establish a lean, powerful security operations toolset and gain access to the highly skilled cybersecurity professionals to manage it. The result is a strategic shift: less time spent on tool management, lower operational costs, and demonstrably stronger security outcomes.

This article explores the financial and operational case for this migration. We will propose two key value propositions for security leaders looking to fully leverage their Microsoft E5 investment.

The Business Case: From Budget Drain to 234% ROI

This proposed consolidation offers a powerful opportunity to reclaim and repurpose significant budget while improving your security posture. As Patrick Ethier, CTO at SecureOps, explains, this strategy directly addresses the financial and strategic concerns of security leadership.

"By leveraging E5 security capabilities properly, a CISO can save tons of money by reducing possible duplications of capabilities with their EDR vendor, their VM vendor, their CNAP vendor, and their VPN/SASE vendor. When you can scale down the licensing costs of all these tools and refocus them on your  non-Microsoft deployment base  and show savings, you’ve got a compelling business case."

The savings on the SIEM alone are significant. A 2024 Forrester "Total Economic Impact™" study on Microsoft Sentinel found it reduced SIEM total cost of ownership (TCO) by 44% compared to legacy solutions, delivering a 234% ROI over three years. Meanwhile, the operational gains from this integrated model are profound. In fact, the same Forrester TEI study on Microsoft Defender found that organizations using the integrated platform cut their mean time to resolve (MTTR) security incidents from as long as 3 hours to less than 1 hour.

Across the entire security stack, CISOs can reduce costs even further. An E5 license within a dedicated Microsoft environment allows you to consolidate a wide array of redundant tools into the E5 platform:

Countering "Best-of-Breed" Concerns

Many cybersecurity leaders assume suite-based tools are not as powerful as standalone market leaders.

However, Microsoft’s security suite—including Defender, Sentinel, and Entra—is consistently ranked as a “Leader” by independent analysts at Gartner and Forrester. These tools now compete with and often beat point solutions on pure features, even before factoring in their native integration advantage.

Value Prop #1: Reinvest Savings for a 24/7 "Drop-In" SOC

Even a unified platform like E5, with Defender XDR and Microsoft Sentinel, does not run itself. The tools provide the data; the next challenge is building an effective 24/7/365 security operation to act on it. CISOs can reinvest a fraction of their cost reduction from eliminating redundant licenses into an active, 24/7/365 managed service from SecureOps. You stop over-paying for shelfware and re-invest in a high-value service that actively reduces your risk.

This is where the "drop-in" service stack from SecureOps meets the "drop-in" technology stack from E5, a concept Patrick highlights.

"Instead of building up a SOC from a technology standpoint, it's all out of the box in the Microsoft environment. We're ready to start monitoring literally within a week or two."

For leaders who have lived through a complex SIEM migration, that timeline may seem unrealistic. This is the core of the SecureOps service value. The "drop-in" component is our service, not just the software. SecureOps manages this complex, specialized migration for you. Our proven methodology handles the heavy lifting—detection-rule translation, policy tuning, and platform configuration—freeing your team from the migration burden.

This allows your internal security team to graduate from low-level alert triage and focus on high-impact strategic work while SecureOps handles the 24/7/365 monitoring and response.

Value Prop #2: Build a "Virtual Perimeter" Without a New SASE Contract

Achieving a Zero Trust architecture is often cited as a top CISO priority. E5 provides the core technical capabilities, like ZTNA, to build it. Patrick points to this often-overlooked value.

"Microsoft has a Zero Trust/SASE environment that looks a lot like zScaler, and it's free with E5. Add in a SecureOps partnership and we'll manage your policies and essentially your firewalls."

Instead of purchasing another expensive SASE solution, SecureOps leverages your existing E5 license to build and manage your ZTNA architecture. We manage the policies that secure your "work-from-anywhere" workforce, effectively building your new "virtual perimeter." This shift from old network firewalls to modern identity is the foundation of a Zero Trust security model.

Stop Paying Twice. Start Building Your Business Case.

An E5 license used only for Office apps is a wasted strategic asset. If your organization is paying for E5 and separate point solutions for SIEM, EDR, and ZTNA, you are managing twice and increasing your integration risk.

As Patrick puts it, the value is clear.

"If you're a Microsoft shop through and through, it's one of those easy quick-win moves."

We help security leaders build the business case for consolidation. Contact us today to quantify the savings and operational gains Secure Ops can deliver with your existing licenses.