Full Report
Take a closer look at the savings and reliability reported in Forrester’s Total Economic Impact™ of Symantec SSE
Analysis Summary
# Industry News: Forrester Validates Symantec SSE with Strong ROI and Cost Savings
## Summary
Broadcom published findings from a Forrester Consulting Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study commissioned for its Symantec Security Service Edge (SSE) solution, which reported a compelling 125% ROI over three years and a net present value (NPV) of $15.9 million for a composite global enterprise. This analysis highlights the growing need across the industry for demonstrable return on investment (ROI) from cybersecurity tools, particularly as organizations struggle with vendor sprawl and budget scrutiny.
## Key Details
- Date: August 26, 2025 (Date of publication)
- Companies Involved: Broadcom (Symantec SSE), Forrester Consulting
- Category: Market Analysis / Product Validation
## The Story
The article promotes the results of a Forrester TEI study commissioned by Broadcom, focusing on the Symantec SSE platform. The study analyzed four customer organizations, synthesizing their experience into a composite model of a global enterprise ($12B revenue, 40,000 employees). Before adopting Symantec SSE, these organizations faced challenges typical of legacy security stacks, including poor visibility, scattered policy enforcement, dependence on time-consuming on-prem troubleshooting, and network slowdowns due to traffic backhauling.
The adoption of the SSE solution—which integrates ZTNA, SWG, Web Isolation, and DLP—resulted in quantifiable benefits. Forrester calculated a 125% ROI and $15.9M NPV over three years, suggesting the investment paid for itself in less than six months. The ROI stems from productivity gains, improved response times, infrastructure cost reductions, and simplified complexity.
## Business Impact
### For the Companies Involved
- **Broadcom (Symantec):** Gains significant, third-party validated proof points for marketing and sales efforts, directly addressing C-level executives' primary concern: demonstrating tangible ROI for security investments. It validates the strategic decision to build the SSE platform on Google Cloud infrastructure.
### For Competitors
- **SSE/SASE Vendors:** Competitors offering SSE solutions must now match or exceed this reported benchmark (125% ROI) using independent validation to counter Symantec's strong financial claims. The data puts pressure on vendors whose benefits are largely qualitative.
### For Customers
- **Existing and Prospective Customers:** Provides strong justification for continuing or initiating investment in Symantec SSE, offering concrete metrics to present to their leadership regarding cost savings and operational improvements derived from consolidating security functions.
### For the Market
- **Cybersecurity Spending:** Reinforces the market shift toward integrated, cloud-native security architectures (SSE) over disparate, best-of-breed solutions, driven by financial accountability and the complexity of modern hybrid environments.
## Technical Implications
The effectiveness of the Symantec SSE solution is linked to its cloud-native architecture, built in partnership with Google Cloud, and its ability to unify critical security stacks (ZTNA, SWG, CASB, Web Isolation). The reduction in complexity and elimination of traffic backhauling are key technical drivers behind the reported performance improvements and infrastructure cost savings.
## Strategic Analysis
- **Market Positioning:** Broadcom is strategically positioning Symantec SSE not just as a security upgrade, but as a demonstrable, long-term financial asset necessary to manage modernization costs while maintaining risk posture.
- **Competitive Advantage:** The primary advantage is using Forrester’s rigorous TEI framework to quantify the financial success of consolidation—moving from disparate tools to an integrated platform. This addresses C-suite skepticism directly.
- **Challenges:** The study is commissioned by Broadcom, which may lead some skeptical analysts or competitors to question the depth of impartiality, despite Forrester's methodology. Proving that this high ROI ($15.9M NPV) is reproducible across all customer segments will be a challenge.
## Industry Reactions
- **Analyst Opinions:** Analysts often cite ROI validation as crucial for securing budget in tight economic climates. Expect further validation requests for competitive SSE offerings using similar external economic impact reports.
- **Expert Commentary:** Security leaders will likely point to the unified platform as the key to alleviating "vendor sprawl," a common pain point cited in the report.
- **Market Response:** There will likely be increased interest and requests for trial usage of Symantec SSE to test the financial claims within various enterprise contexts.
## Future Outlook
- **Predictions and Expectations:** Broadcom will heavily leverage this data in Q4 and FY2026 sales cycles, potentially forcing competitors to commission similar studies or focus on alternative value metrics (e.g., threat blocking superiority).
- **What to watch for:** How quickly Symantec SSE adoption accelerates following this report, and whether other major SSE vendors publish comparable TEI studies in response.
## For Security Professionals
Security teams can use the reported metrics (improved productivity, infrastructure cost reduction) as leverage when advocating for the consolidation of existing, disparate point products under a unified SSE contract. The report confirms that the transition away from legacy networking/security models (like mandatory backhauling) is critical for both performance and cost efficiency.