Why IT teams under pressure are looking to access logs for answers

Cybersecurity spending is rising, but so is the pressure on IT and security teams. Gartner projects that global cybersecurity budgets will climb to $212 billion this year, which is up 15% from 2024. But despite increased spending in this area, many organizations still face IT talent shortages, operational gaps, and growing stress to do more to catch up to the ever escalating threat environment.

According to the Information Systems Audit and Control Association (ISACA), over half (51%) of cybersecurity professionals said that despite the increase, their budgets are still underfunded, with 47% anticipating a cyberattack on their organization this year.  To offset internal staffing challenges and fill these crucial gaps, organizations are increasingly relying on managed service providers and external security consultants. But while this offers support, it introduces new challenges: more remote users, more endpoints, and more complexity across an already fragmented ecosystem. As hybrid environments expand and digital modernization efforts accelerate, the ability to see and act on what’s happening across all users, devices, and systems is essential to meeting compliance and security standards and preparing for the next threat.  

Particularly in shared device environments, especially those spanning legacy, on-prem, and cloud systems, access management data and analytics can provide actionable, real-time insight into all critical activity across the organization. Evolving monitoring beyond a static or stale audit log, more organizations are leveraging access log data as a strategic asset, capable of uncovering inefficiencies, reducing risk, and supporting smarter, faster decision-making across IT systems and critical business operations.

The untapped value of access data

Access logs have traditionally been used for compliance, remaining point in time documents collected and stored for audits. But when viewed through the lens of actionable data analytics, those same logs become a source of real-time insight. Every login, authentication, or denied access attempt is captured, providing visibility into access friction and gaps, where systems are underperforming, where risk is creeping in, and where resources might be misaligned.

This kind of operational intelligence is critical in today’s threat landscape, with 95% of breaches resulting from human error in 2024, and nearly 43% of organizations seeing an increase in internal threats or data leaks initiated by compromised, careless or negligent employees, according to a 2025 Mimecast report.

By harnessing access analytics, leaders can move beyond reactive troubleshooting to uncover meaningful patterns across the organization, helping them make more intentional decisions. Access data can also reveal how vendors and third parties interact with sensitive systems, whether those access levels are appropriate, and how automation can replace manual processes to reduce risk and free up valuable time. Considering that 47% of organizations reported experiencing a data breach or cyberattack involving a third-party accessing their network in the past 12 months, according to a 2025 Imprivata report, this level of intelligence is key in enabling teams to scale effectively and securely.