CrowdStrike endpoint security ROI quantified in study

Endpoint security remains one of the most critical and vulnerable layers in enterprise IT environments. A commissioned Total Economic Impact (TEI) study by Forrester Consulting now provides a quantified view of what modern endpoint security can deliver when organisations move away from legacy approaches.

The study, conducted on behalf of CrowdStrike, analysed the experiences of interviewed customers who replaced traditional endpoint security tools with CrowdStrike. Using these inputs, Forrester modelled a composite organisation to evaluate economic and operational impact over a three-year period.

The findings point to a CrowdStrike endpoint security ROI of 273 percent, with a payback period of under six months and total quantified benefits of USD 5 million over three years.

Endpoint modernisation and economic outcomes

According to the study, endpoint consolidation played a central role in driving economic value. Organisations reported lower technology costs and reduced labour requirements after retiring multiple legacy tools in favour of a single endpoint platform.

Forrester attributed the USD 5 million in total benefits to simplified security operations, faster deployment across new environments, and reduced effort when integrating acquisitions. The modelled organisation was able to deploy endpoint protection more quickly without adding complexity or overhead.

These efficiencies translated into measurable financial gains over the three-year analysis period, reinforcing the economic case for endpoint modernisation.

Reducing breach exposure at the endpoint

Beyond operational savings, the study highlighted a significant reduction in endpoint-related breach risk. Interviewed organisations reported fewer incidents linked to endpoints after transitioning away from legacy security products.

Forrester quantified USD 1.7 million in avoided breach-related costs over three years for the representative organisation. This figure was based on risk reduction observed across four interviewed customers and reflects both fewer breaches and lower incident impact.

Elia Zaitsev, Chief Technology Officer at CrowdStrike, said the findings underline the changing role of endpoint security in enterprise decision-making.

“The endpoint is a primary risk and productivity point in today’s enterprise, but many organisations are still relying on legacy endpoint security built for a different threat era,” Zaitsev said. “Our Forrester study shows that modern endpoint security isn’t just more effective, it’s more economically rational.”

Operational simplicity and analyst efficiency

The study also examined how endpoint modernisation affected day-to-day security operations. Organisations deploying a single, lightweight endpoint sensor reported major reductions in management effort.

Forrester found a 95 percent reduction in endpoint security management labour. At the same time, alert noise and false positives declined, enabling analysts to focus on genuine threats rather than routine investigations.

This improvement allowed security teams to accelerate response times and investigations without increasing headcount—an important outcome for organisations managing constrained resources.

Built for consolidation and expansion

Another key finding was the platform’s ability to scale without disruption. The study noted that CrowdStrike’s cloud-native, single-sensor architecture allowed organisations to extend protection beyond endpoint detection and response.

Interviewed customers were able to expand into identity protection, next-generation SIEM and cloud security modules without deploying additional agents or reconfiguring endpoints. This design supported broader security consolidation while maintaining operational continuity.

Customer experiences reflected this approach. An enterprise security manager in the oil and gas sector described the shift away from a hard-to-manage legacy provider as a move towards simplicity, following a proof of concept that led to wider platform adoption.

A director of cyber defence in healthcare noted that expanding beyond endpoint detection required little additional effort once the single agent was deployed. A retail sector CISO highlighted improved visibility, citing the ability to query and investigate activity across the enterprise within minutes.

A quantified case for endpoint change

Taken together, the Forrester TEI study frames endpoint modernisation as both a security and financial decision. The reported CrowdStrike endpoint security ROI reflects avoided breach costs, reduced operational effort and faster time to value.

For organisations still relying on fragmented legacy endpoint tools, the study offers a structured, quantified perspective on what consolidation and modernisation can achieve—measured through economic impact rather than assumptions.