4 key trends reshaping the SIEM market

Security information and event management (SIEM) platforms have evolved far beyond their basic log collection and correlation roots.

With cyber threats moving too fast for manual intervention, leading vendors have been integrating artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies into their SIEM platforms.

In addition, modern SIEM platforms now incorporate extended detection and response (XDR) and security orchestration, automation, and response (SOAR), enabling real-time threat detection and automated remediation.

SIEMs have become a platform to monitor log data for anomalies and suspicious events before triggering alerts based on unusual behavior and detection rules.

“[SIEM] often serves as the workspace for security analysts to investigate incidents that are correlations of alerts with other contexts such as asset information, vulnerabilities, and threat intelligence,” according to analyst group IDC. “IDC expects that in the future, the SIEM will also be the response center of the SOC with automated handling of many incidents via playbooks.”

And as enterprise cloud use continues to rise, Google’s Cloud Cybersecurity Forecast predicts that SIEM products will become central to enterprise SOCs (security operations centers) ingesting “everything from cloud logs to endpoint telemetry.”

Joe Turner, global director of research and business development at market intelligence firm Context, notes that larger attack surfaces and more sophisticated attacks are spurring enterprises to invest in SIEM in combination with other technologies, including XDR and SOAR, as a platform to correlate, detect, and remediate threats. As such, his firm reports that the SIEM market grew 20% in 2024.

SIEM, XDR, and SOAR convergence

The convergence of SIEM with security tools such as XDR and SOAR is a major factor driving growth in the market.

SIEM provides log analytics and broad visibility, XDR extends detection across endpoints and cloud, and SOAR orchestrates response.

When SIEM detects a security incident, SOAR triggers automated response actions via XDR — isolating compromised endpoints, disabling compromised user accounts, or blocking malicious traffic in real-time.

By converging SIEM with XDR and SOAR, organizations get a unified security platform that consolidates data, reduces complexity, and improves response times, as systems can be configured to automatically contain threats without any manual intervention.

In 2024, Context logged a 580% increase — or more than six-fold rise — in SIEM and XDR technologies being sold together. Services sold with both SOAR and SIEM tied together increased a smaller but still significant 22% last year, according to the market intelligence agency.

“The term SIEM++ is being used to refer to this next step in SIEM, which is designed for more current needs within security ops asking for automation, AI, and real-time responses. Hence, the increase in SIEM alongside other tools,” Context’s Turner says.

George McKenna, director at UK-based managed service provider Emerging T-Tech, tells CSO that the convergence of SIEM with XDR and SOAR enables enterprises to streamline operations, improve detection effectiveness, and reduce mean time to resolution.

“Legacy SIEM, while effective for log aggregation and correlation, lacks the granular visibility and automated response capabilities necessary in today’s threat landscape,” McKenna explains. “XDR addresses this gap by integrating endpoint, network, and cloud telemetry, providing a holistic view of potential threats.”

McKenna adds: “SOAR then enables the automation of incident response workflows, accelerating mitigation and remediation.”

Cloud-based SIEM on the rise

The shift to cloud-based SIEM is accelerating as organizations seek a more scalable and cost-effective platform.

“Cloud-native SIEMs reduce operational overhead and enable faster investigations and collaboration across security, DevOps, and platform teams — key for modern security operations,” says Vera Chan, senior product marketing manager of cloud SIEM at cloud and security monitoring firm Datadog.

Cloud-based SIEM solutions are plug-and-play security platforms, so organizations can subscribe, integrate assets via API, automate responses using SOAR, and set up tailored detection rules.

“Modern cloud-based SIEM goes beyond log management,” Muhammad Ali, cyber solutions consultant at comms and cyber-security provider Exponential-e tells CSO. “It’s an intelligent security hub with built-in SOAR capabilities, seamless API integrations with cloud-based XDR/EDR solutions, and real-time global threat intelligence.”

Ali adds: “This means sharper detection capabilities and faster, automated responses to advanced cyber threats.”

Cloud-based SIEMs remove the need for expensive hardware upgrades associated with traditional on-premises deployments, offering scalability and faster response times alongside potentially more cost-effective usage-based pricing models.

“Given the vast amount of new threats which appear every day, current SIEMs are not effective against emerging and sophisticated attacks which don’t follow pre-existing patterns,” said Scott McKinnon, CSO for UK & Ireland at Palo Alto Networks. “Next-generation SIEMs use AI and machine learning to reduce false positives, help predict security breaches, and enable automated threat responses.”

According to Context, the cost of SIEM on-prem went up 116% to an average of $93 per seat in 2024. By contrast, cloud-based SIEM costs went down 26% to $77 per seat last year.

“The upfront costs for cloud SIEM is now lower than on-prem with much faster deployment,” Context’s Turner explains. “This is very attractive for SMBs [small and midsize businesses] looking to protect themselves whilst on a limited budget.”

However high data ingestion costs for the cloud mean that larger enterprises handling a large volume of information may continue to be better served by an on-premises or hybrid SIEM deployment, Turner advises.

Context reports that cloud-based SIEM revenue grew 60% in 2024 year-on-year. SIEM-based services delivered via MSPs grew more than six-fold, up 550% over the same period.

“The MSP growth of SIEM — or SIEMaaS — is due to the very real limitation that many businesses are unable to hire or retain an in-house security team primarily due to budget restraints,” Context’s Turner says. “This means investing in managed offerings which are more affordable and save needing to understand and handle the complexity of SIEM.”

AI reshaping the SIEM landscape

Static rule-based SIEMs struggle to keep pace with today’s sophisticated cyber threats, which is why AI-powered SIEM platforms use real-time machine learning (ML) to analyze vast amounts of security data, improving their ability to identify anomalies and previously unseen attack techniques that legacy technologies might miss.

ML models establish baseline behavior for users, assets, and network traffic, continuously monitoring for deviations that indicate potential threats. When an anomaly is detected, the trained model generates alerts, leading to faster threat detection and response.

“AI-powered SIEM solutions not only detect threats but also automate investigation processes, correlating real-time incidents with global threat intelligence,” Exponential-e’s Ali says. “By integrating with SOAR and XDR/EDR platforms, automated responses can be triggered or incidents escalated to security analysts for further action.”

Ali adds: “This significantly improves incident response efficiency and supports a more efficient and agile security operations center that’s one step ahead of attackers.”

AI-powered SIEMs can prioritize critical alerts, recommend response actions, and automate remediation, reducing noise and fatigue.

“As adversaries leverage AI, security teams must adopt AI-driven automation to stay ahead,” Datadog’s Chan says.

Industry consolidation

The SIEM market is experiencing rapid consolidation as vendors look to develop more comprehensive and powerful platforms.

“Organizations demand fewer tools, deeper integrations, and frictionless end-to-end security operations — and vendors that can deliver this will shape the future of cybersecurity,” Datadog’s Chan says.

Notable SIEM M&A activity over the past few years includes:

• Palo Alto Networks acquiring IBM’s QRadar SaaS business for $500 million in September 2024
• Exabeam merging with LogRhythm in July 2024
• Cisco buying Splunk for approximately $28 billion in March 2024
• Google acquiring Siemplify (a SOAR company) in 2022 to integrate into Google Chronicle SIEM
• IBM acquiring Reaqta in 2021 (focused on AI-driven detection) to enhance QRadar capabilities in the XDR market

“We are seeing fewer vendors selling a standalone SIEM product and an increase in bundled suites,” Context’s Turner says.

“Legacy SIEM vendors are acquiring cloud-native security companies to help push the transition that customers are asking for from on-prem to cloud-based solutions which have more competitive pricing models,” he adds.

See also:

• What is SIEM? Improving security posture through event log data
• SIEM buyer’s guide: Top 15 security information and event management tools — and how to choose
• Costly and struggling: the challenges of legacy SIEM solutions