BuyingVerified 19 Jun 2026
SOAR ROI 2026: Build the Business Case for the CFO
The arguments that get a SOAR purchase approved. Each anchored to a named published dataset, not analyst hand-waving.
$4.44M
IBM 2025 global avg cost of a data breach
$7.42M
IBM 2025 healthcare cost of a data breach
$19.5M
Ponemon 2026 annual insider-risk programme cost (global avg)
67 days
Ponemon 2026 avg insider-incident containment time
Sources: IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025; Ponemon 2026 Cost of Insider Risks Global Report. See sister sites databreachcost.com and incidentcost.com.
The four anchor arguments
- MTTR compression. Each minute off mean-time-to-respond reduces lateral movement opportunity. SOAR is the SOC's reflex arc.
- Analyst-hour reclaim. Repeatable playbook work (phishing triage, IOC enrichment) reclaims hours per analyst per week.
- Breach-cost avoidance. IBM 2025 anchors the headline number; SOAR's job is to keep your SOC out of the curve.
- Insider-risk containment. Ponemon 2026 puts annualised global programme cost at $19.5M. Containment-time reduction has direct economic value.
Board-deck framing
“Don't pitch SOAR as a security tool. Pitch it as the line item that lets your security headcount handle 2x the alert volume without 2x the cost.”
The CFO does not care that the SOAR has 400 connectors. They care that the post-purchase SOC handles the next breach two days faster and that the analyst headcount does not balloon. Build the deck around those two outcomes.