* [Blog](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog) * [Cloud Security](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/) * [Cloud Security](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/) * Beyond Integration Theate... # Beyond Integration Theater: Why Counting Connections Misses the Point in Cloud Security [](https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2Fcloud-security%2Fplatform-thirdparty-integration%2F) [](https://twitter.com/share?text=Beyond+Integration+Theater%3A+Why+Counting+Connections+Misses+the+Point+in+Cloud+Security&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2Fcloud-security%2Fplatform-thirdparty-integration%2F) [](https://www.linkedin.com/shareArticle?mini=true&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww2.paloaltonetworks.com%2Fblog%2Fcloud-security%2Fplatform-thirdparty-integration%2F&title=Beyond+Integration+Theater%3A+Why+Counting+Connections+Misses+the+Point+in+Cloud+Security&summary=&source=) [](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com//www.reddit.com/submit?url=https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/platform-thirdparty-integration/&ts=markdown) \[\](mailto:?subject=Beyond Integration Theater: Why Counting Connections Misses the Point in Cloud Security) Link copied By [Scott Simkin](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/author/scott-simkin/?ts=markdown "Posts by Scott Simkin") Aug 14, 2025 4 minutes [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown) [Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/cloud-native-application-protection-platform/?ts=markdown) [Third-Party Integrations](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/third-party-integrations/?ts=markdown) [Unified Telemetry](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/tag/unified-telemetry/?ts=markdown) I want to offer a warm welcome to our industry colleagues celebrating 200 integrations for cloud security and the SOC. It's an important milestone, and it's great to see the industry rallying to help our customers. We remember well hitting that number, having reached that milestone years ago. In fact, I've got a bottle of champagne ready for when you cross the 850 mark. But let's be honest. The number of integrations is just table stakes. It's the opening act, not the main event. Connecting every relevant data source is the foundation, but the real question isn't how many logos you can put on a slide. It's what you do with the data once it arrives. ## From Digital Archaeology to Instant Clarity Too many security teams are drowning in dashboards. Analysts burn their days working with a dozen disconnected tools, becoming digital archaeologists as they piece together fragments of an attack. A vulnerability scanner flags a risk in one console, runtime protection alerts pop up in another, and identity anomalies hide in yet a third. The result? They're forced to reconstruct attack timelines in spreadsheets instead of stopping them in their tracks. ​​Our approach makes the digital scavenger hunt obsolete. When a threat is detected with Cortex Cloud, every piece of relevant context is already there, unified in a single, coherent view---the vulnerability history, the runtime behavior, the configuration drift, the identity patterns. Teams investigate the complete story of an attack, not a collection of disjointed clues. We don't just collect data. We create a single source of truth. Every log, alert and configuration is normalized into a unified data model *before* analysis even begins. Container telemetry flows alongside cloud audit trails and API logs, creating the rich, correlated context needed for decisive action. ## From Data Overload to Signal Supremacy You can't scale security by hiring more people to watch more screens. When platforms simply connect to more sources without intelligent processing, they don't create clarity---they amplify noise. Each new integration just adds to the cacophony. We flip this equation on its head. Our customers see 75% fewer incidents requiring human investigation because we don't just ingest data---we transform it. Over 10,000 continuously updated detector models, validated by elite researchers and data scientists, analyze integrated data streams to separate genuine threats from background chatter before an alert ever reaches your team. AI-driven risk prioritization, which we call SmartScore, highlights incidents with the highest potential impact. Your team can immediately focus on the 2% of activity that could actually damage your business, instead of getting lost in the 98% that won't. ## From Manual Toil to Autonomous Resolution Integrations that only pass the buck to a human analyst create workflow bottlenecks. Critical issues end up in a queue while your best people handle routine work that a machine should have managed. The results of a different approach are not subtle. Our customers see a 98% reduction in median time to resolution, from days down to hours. More importantly, 86% of alerts are resolved automatically without any human intervention. This frees your team for high-value work---threat hunting, improving architecture and driving strategic initiatives. Automated workflows stitch together data from all sources, group related issues into attack paths, and execute remediation playbooks, turning a cycle of manual investigation into one of continuous, automated improvement. ## Own Your Data, Own Your Destiny Compliance and forensics demand that you keep your data. Yet many CNAPPs don't retain data long-term, forcing you to export data to third-party storage. The practice creates complexity, cost and potential security gaps as data flows out and back in for analysis---an unnecessary and risky shuffle. We believe your data should stay where you control it. Native data retention means your historical context is always accessible for pattern analysis, regulatory audits and forensic investigations without architectural gymnastics. When a platform handles the data engineering automatically, security teams can stop wrestling with data plumbing and start focusing on security. Integration numbers make for impressive headlines. But platform depth is what delivers measurable outcomes. Choose accordingly. *** ** * ** *** ## Related Blogs ### [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/cloud-native-application-protection-platform/?ts=markdown), [CNAPP](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/cnapp/?ts=markdown) [#### How Auto-Remediation Shifts the Odds in Cloud Security](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/auto-remediation-cnapp/) ### [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/cloud-native-application-protection-platform/?ts=markdown) [#### Cortex Cloud Introduces the Third Wave of CNAPP Innovation](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/cortex-cloud-third-wave-cnapp-innovation/) ### [AppSec](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/appsec/?ts=markdown), [ASPM](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/aspm/?ts=markdown), [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Code Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/code-security/?ts=markdown), [DevSecOps](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/devsecops/?ts=markdown), [Research](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/research/?ts=markdown) [#### An Inside Look into ASPM: Five Findings from New Industry Research](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/aspm-research-omdia/) ### [Cloud NGFW](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/cloud-ngfw/?ts=markdown), [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Firewall](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/firewall/?ts=markdown) [#### Modernizing Security on AWS: From Firewall Ops to Security Intent](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/modernizing-security-on-aws-from-firewall-ops-to-security-intent/) ### [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Software Firewalls](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/category/software-firewalls/?ts=markdown) [#### Turn Your Multicloud Security into a Business Enabler](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/network-security/turn-your-multicloud-security-into-a-business-enabler/) ### [Application Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/application-security/?ts=markdown), [AppSec](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/appsec/?ts=markdown), [ASPM](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/aspm/?ts=markdown), [Cloud Security](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/category/cloud-security/?ts=markdown), [Partners](https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/category/partners/?ts=markdown) [#### Palo Alto Networks and Veracode: Unifying Application Security from Code to Cloud](https://www2.paloaltonetworks.com/blog/cloud-security/application-security-veracode-partnership/) ### Subscribe to Cloud Security Blogs! 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