Jeetu Patel’s Post

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Jeetu Patel Jeetu Patel is an Influencer

EVP & GM, Security and Collaboration Business Units at Cisco

I often get asked the question, “Why did Cisco buy Splunk? Here’s the answer. I look at it from three perspectives. Perspective #1: Cisco has its roots in networking. Today, networking is incomplete without security. So we must be a world-class security provider. Given the sophistication of threat actors and adversaries, you have to handle sophisticated attacks at machine scale since human scale no longer suffices. This requires that in order to be a world-class security company we also have to be a world-class AI company. And in order to be a world-class AI company, we must also be a world-class data company. And Splunk progresses us so much on this dimension of data. Perspective #2: Another way to think about it is that in this world of extremely sophisticated adversaries and threats, you have to assume that the attacker has already infiltrated your environment. And the objective is containing lateral movement. Where does lateral movement happen? It happens on the network. And Cisco has such rich telemetry on what packets are traversing the network, what processes originated on the end point and visibility on how they terminate on the server/host. The challenge however with this rich telemetry is that it is far too voluminous for ingesting into any Security Incident and Event Management (SIEM) system. Today the problem with network telemetry trying to provide signal to the SIEM is that it is very high volume telemetry with very low signal. There is a possibility to fundamentally change this to extremely high fidelity, low volume telemetry that can be fed into Splunk to dramatically improve detections and reduce the time to investigation. Perspective #3: Cisco and Splunk had very low overlap in the security portfolio. But both of us were very passionate about reimagining the future of the Security Operations Center (SOC). Markets that Splunk had pioneered like SIEM and SOAR build on their data platform coupled with innovations we have made in areas like XDR. When combined together they allow us to solve problems that no one has been successful solving. To discuss all this in more detail, I was delighted to join my friend Tom Casey at Splunk’s .conf event. Here’s the video of our conversation that you might find interesting. Really exciting to work closely with the Splunkers to help keep the world safe.

Kemel Blue

Solutions Engineering @ Cisco | Sharing Cybersecurity Content + News | Technical Advisor, Evangelist, Mentor | Helping to Secure Enterprises and US Public Sector 🇺🇸

2w

Thanks for sharing Jeetu! It's exciting to see Cisco and Splunk joining forces. I really like the focus on refining network and endpoint telemetry to provide high-fidelity, low-volume data for the SIEM. This should boost performance and also speed up threat detection and response, which is critical with today's advanced threats. Looking forward to seeing how this shapes the future of the SOC!

Mukul Saxena (Transformational AI Coach)

Transformational AI Coach | AI Researcher | Side Hustle Consultant

1w

Your strategic insights into the acquisition of Splunk by Cisco are truly fascinating, Jeetu Patel. The three perspectives you shared demonstrate the depth of vision needed to navigate today's complex cybersecurity landscape. Exciting times ahead for the collaboration between Cisco and Splunk in shaping the future of security operations. Your expertise shines through in each perspective presented.

Carter Ransom

Driving Application Modernization - Tanzu - Puzzle solver Extraordinaire

2w

Happy Birthday Jeetu! Great insights. There is so much room for AI to reduce the volume of logs being ingested as well. Every AppD customer I ever worked with talked about this.

sridhar S.

Security, SaaS, OT, ZTNA, SDWAN, NGFW, SASE, Multi-Cloud, Orchestration, Colo, Identity, Network, SRE

1w

On Item #3, What is missing with most SOC/XDR/SIEM vendor is the SaaS, Cloud infrastructure. Among the top 5 - MSFT may is the only with cloud expertise, but they lack the Network, endpoint dominance. Use CSP - GCP/AZ/AWS to learn cloud nuances of SaaS but leverage Equinix to do cloud refactoring and differentiate for long term SaaS model.

Kind people are my kind of people ❤️

Vern Raincock

Support and Travel via Regional Passenger Rail

4d

Integration in a complex environment requires a brother - sister, not a top down approach. A collaborative partnership will improve response times to disruptions and lessen the chance they occur.

Ankit Talwar

Cybersecurity Regional Sales Leader (APJC) | Singapore PR

2w

This is probably the best summary on the power and value of the acquisition! Thanks Jeetu and happy b day!!

Donna Reid

Founder & CEO, Real Estate Fund Manager🏦 motivational speaker “2+ Decades of Real Estate Experience as an International Broker-Realtor" ✈️/ Beach Lover 🏖

1d

Thanks for sharing your insight on this one Jeetu Patel Now with them coming together I wonder how there competitors are going to challenge them

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V Srinivasa Rao (VSR)

Founder | Passionate Digital Transformation Leader | Author | Speaker | Techno-Business Transformer | Techno-Social Reformer | Committed to Contributing to Bharat 2047.

6d

This insightful explanation sheds light on the strategic reasoning behind Cisco's acquisition of Splunk. The synergy between their expertise in networking, security, AI, and data promises innovative solutions for a safer digital landscape.

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Shivang Kapoor

Commercial Interior Design & Build | Innovative Corporate Interiors & Workplaces | Commercial Contracting | Fit-Out Contracting | Retail Fit-outs | Director at Kapoor Luxury Homes & Spaces

1w

Great insights! The acquisition makes perfect sense given the need for robust security and data capabilities. Excited to see how Cisco and Splunk will innovate together.

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