The ROI of Cyber Asset Management: Unpacking the Forrester TEI study

This is a summary of a recent webcast with Frederico Hakamine, Technology Evangelist at Axonius, Erik Nost, Senior Analyst, Security and Risk at Forrester, and Sarah Lervold, Business Value Consultant at Forrester. They discussed findings from a recent Total Economic Impact™ (TEI) study. 

Experts from Axonius and Forrester delved into the return on investment (ROI) of cyber asset management, unpacking findings from Forrester’s Total Economic Impact (TEI) study.

The panel explored the evolving challenges and priorities facing security teams and the tangible benefits of comprehensive asset management. The discussion began by highlighting the complexity of today’s IT environments, where security teams must safeguard a constantly expanding and shifting landscape of assets. Visibility remains a core challenge, as organizations struggle to maintain accurate inventories and prioritize vulnerabilities across on-premises, cloud, and remote systems.

Forrester’s research revealed that, despite significant investments, organizations still experience an average of three security breaches per year, with associated costs averaging $2.7 million per incident. The TEI study, based on interviews with Axonius customers across diverse industries, quantified the impact of implementing a unified asset management platform.

Key findings included a 156% ROI over three years, $5.3 million in total benefits, and significant time and cost savings in areas such as asset inventory, vulnerability management, incident response, and compliance reporting. Customers reported a 150% increase in assets identified, 60-90% reductions in manual effort, and improved ability to decommission unused licenses. Beyond the numbers, the study emphasized the importance of holistic value—highlighting not just operational efficiencies, but also enhanced risk management, better decision-making, and elevated visibility for cybersecurity teams within their organizations.

The speakers concluded by encouraging organizations to leverage self-service TEI tools to benchmark their own environments and to prioritize visibility as the foundation for proactive security and long-term ROI.