“If I might change one factor about my group’s segmentation strategy, it will undoubtedly be to additional automate and combine our segmentation instruments and processes. By leveraging automation and integration, we might improve the effectiveness and scalability of our segmentation technique. This transformation would have important impression on effectiveness and effectivity.”
UK, IT, telecoms, and expertise, 2025 Cisco Segmentation Report
Segmentation is a fancy and evolving expertise that bridges a number of layers of the IT stack. Any change in community structure or utility entry has the potential to kick off a sequence of chain reactions which will disrupt or break workflows. In consequence, many organizations – from around the globe throughout market segments – are within the technique of modernizing their segmentation insurance policies to higher align with the altering approach individuals work right now.
It’s necessary for distributors like Cisco to higher perceive clients’ experiences with segmentation implementations in order to higher meet their particular wants and expectations. Cisco commissioned a world survey to higher perceive the drivers, challenges, approaches and advantages of segmentation. The analysis concerned surveying 1,000 respondents with data of their group’s community safety and segmentation practices throughout the Americas, EMEA and Asia Pacific.
The responses within the 2025 Cisco Segmentation Report clarify that in an period the place 84% of organizations suffered a breach up to now yr, segmentation has change into the inspiration of resilience. This idea – together with different insights – helps Cisco to higher perceive and deal with organizations’ safety wants and meet our final aim to assist allow safety within the trendy world.
Listed below are the primary takeaways from the report.
1. Precedence vs. Actuality: Segmentation is a excessive precedence for a lot of, however few have totally executed
In response to the responses within the report, a majority of organizations say that segmentation is a high precedence (79%), however just one third have totally applied each macro- and micro-segmentation (33%). This contradiction tells us that organizations know what they should do, however complexity and outdated approaches are holding them again. That is backed up by the truth that almost 9 in 10 mentioned that their segmentation processes want enchancment (87%).
The principle problem holding organizations again is the elevated complexity as a result of hybrid IT, cloud, containers and legacy programs. Coupled with community decentralization, this complexity prevents safety groups from gaining visibility into distributed workloads. Restricted understanding of how these disparate customers, units, functions and companies are connecting and interacting with one another makes it tough to create, apply and implement segmentation insurance policies.
Segmentation is a precedence for many organizations…
…however implementation lags behind.
2. Essential asset safety and assembly regulatory compliance are widespread driving components for implementing segmentation
Right this moment’s organizations are beneath strain to guard what issues most with out impacting productiveness and are utilizing segmentation primarily to guard high-value / important property (57%) in essentially the most non-disruptive method doable. Assembly necessary necessities and strengthening resilience towards breaches are additionally priorities, in accordance with the report. In different phrases, segmentation is not about threat discount. It’s about safeguarding enterprise continuity and buyer belief.
Asset safety is a driving issue for implementing segmentation.
3. Full segmentation might ship measurable positive factors for organizations seeking to present safe entry to functions and customers
The respondents within the survey who’ve applied each macro- and micro- segmentation of their organizations agree that their methods have strengthened community safety, decreased the impression of breaches and improved operational alignment. Achieved proper, segmentation isn’t only a management. Segmentation accelerates enterprise restoration, aligns groups throughout operations and creates a basis for automation.
Particularly, organizations which have applied each macro- and micro-segmentation report that they’ve decreased restoration time from 29 days to twenty days throughout the whole assault cycle (discovery, containment and restoration). Moreover, 87% of those organizations say their groups are totally aligned, versus solely 52% of organizations that haven’t totally applied each macro- and micro- segmentation. Organizations with full implementation usually tend to strongly agree that automation is the important thing to scaling and maturing segmentation initiatives (63% vs 50% with out full implementation).
Segmentation speeds restoration time.
Transferring ahead with segmentation
Segmentation has emerged as a foundational safety technique, permitting organizations to make sure enterprise resilience, align groups throughout operations and create a basis for IT automation. Nevertheless, few organizations have applied profitable macro- and micro-segmentation methods and report being hamstrung by rising complexity, restricted visibility into workloads and a lack of know-how of authentic communication flows between programs. The 2025 Cisco Segmentation Report helps Cisco align our segmentation product methods to those buyer challenges in hopes of finally enabling safety within the trendy world.
Discover the complete 2025 Cisco Segmentation Report to see how your friends are rethinking segmentation in an more and more advanced world.
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