A security information event management (SIEM) solution is like a radar system that pilots and air traffic controllers use. Without one, enterprise IT is flying blind. Although security appliances and system software are good at catching and logging isolated attacks and anomalous behavior, today's most serious threats are distributed, acting in concert across multiple systems and using advanced evasion techniques to avoid detection.

Security incidents can happen without warning and they often go undetected for long periods of time. Organizations struggle to identify incidents because they often work in silos or because the amount of alerts is overwhelming and hard to determine the signals among the noise.