The hype around SOAR (security orchestration, automation, and response) seems to be at its peak. It's unfortunate, then, that the current market players can't seem to get past some significant shortcomings. SOAR solutions of today require lengthy and costly implementations, silo security deliverables, don't fit well with cloud environments, and don't easily extend to use cases beyond incident response.

The idea of a 'single pane of glass,' or SPOG for short, has been just as appealing to cybersecurity teams as it has been elusive, and despite security vendor claims, largely remains a myth. An intelligent automation layer can help security teams to get half-way there, by bringing monitoring, analysis, and response capabilities to security operations.

The majority of security analysts I know have a job that’s made unnecessarily more difficult than it has to be. Everyday they’re charged with finding the veritable needle in a haystack with tools – SIEMs and log management systems – that have struggled with the latest technology trends, such as big data and cloud services. As a result, analysts are wasting time with high volumes of low-value data, and they’re missing valuable clues.