Palo Alto Networks Completes IBM QRadar Deal; CEO Touts Cortex Adoption Ahead

‘Our partnership with IBM reinforces our commitment to innovation and our conviction in the tremendous benefit of QRadar customers adopting Cortex XSIAM for a robust, data-driven security platform that offers transformative efficiency and effectiveness in defending against evolving cyberthreats,’ says Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora.

Cybersecurity superstar Palo Alto Networks completed its $500 million acquisition of IBM’s QRadar assets Wednesday with CEO Nikesh Arora touting that the merger will significantly boost the adoption of its Cortex ISIAM offering.

“Our partnership with IBM reinforces our commitment to innovation and our conviction in the tremendous benefit of QRadar customers adopting Cortex XSIAM for a robust, data-driven security platform that offers transformative efficiency and effectiveness in defending against evolving cyberthreats,” said Palo Alto Networks’ CEO in a statement.

With the acquisition of IBM's QRadar Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) assets, Palo Alto Networks is now focused on enabling customer migrations to its Precision AI-powered Cortex XSIAM platform, while also speeding up its ability to become a larger player in the SIEM (security information and event management) market.

Moving IBM QRadar Customers To Cortex XSIAM

Palo Alto Networks and IBM will help global customers across industries seamlessly shift from QRadar to Cortex XSIAM with no-cost migration services through IBM Consulting for eligible customers.

The cybersecurity company’s Cortex XSIAM platform centralizes data and security operations capabilities into a single platform to streamline operations and prevent threats.

“We are on a mission to help organizations transform their security operations and harness the potential of Precision AI-powered platforms to better protect their businesses,” said Arora.

QRadar customers that remain on QRadar on-premises will continue to receive IBM features and support, including security, usability and critical bug fixes, as well as updates to existing connectors and the ability to expand consumption.

IBM Partners Selling Palo Alto Networks

IBM and Palo Alto Networks have been working together for months to make sure IBM partners can quickly become official Palo Alto Networks partners. This will enable IBM partners to sell the Cortex XSIAM platform.

“Once the acquisition closes, our partners will have the opportunity to join Palo Alto Networks’ partner program, if they’re not already part of that, so they will be able to then sell Cortex XSIAM,” Kate Woolley, IBM’s global channel chief, told CRN in May.

“Then as we look at our QRadar on-prem clients and partners, we are going to be working with them to continue to support and enhance those products from an IBM perspective,” Woolley added. “But also work in partnership with Palo Alto to look at where does it make sense to modernize those clients onto the Cortex XSIAM offering or where does it make sense for them to stay where they are?”

IBM CEO: We ‘Are Shaping The Future Of Cybersecurity’

Arvind Krishna, chairman and CEO of IBM, said his company is “shaping the future of cybersecurity for our customers and the industry at large” via its partnership with Palo Alto Networks.

“Working with Palo Alto Networks will be a strategic advantage for IBM as our two companies partner on advanced threat protection, response and security operations using Cortex XSIAM and watsonx, backed by IBM Consulting,” Krishna said.

IBM has furthered its internal deployment of Palo Alto Networks security platforms with the deployment of Cortex XSIAM for its own next-generation security operations, and Prisma SASE 3.0 for zero-trust network security to safeguard more than 250,000 of its global workforce.

Krishna said IBM will continue innovating to help secure organizations’ hybrid cloud environments and AI initiatives, “focusing our investments on data security and identity and access management technologies.”