NEC XON, Palo Alto Networks unite to unlock cybersecurity ROI

NEC XON is a leading African integrator of ICT solutions and part of NEC, a Japanese global company.

Arthur Taylor, cybersecurity pre-sales architect at NEC XON. Portal ERP South Africa. 

NEC XON, a pan-African digital systems integrator and newly certified Palo Alto Networks Diamond Partner, has unveiled its platform-led cybersecurity strategy designed to maximise return on security investment for enterprise customers across Africa and beyond.

“Tool sprawl is one of the biggest drivers of wasted cyber spend,” says Arthur Taylor, cybersecurity pre-sales architect at NEC XON. “When every vendor speaks a different language, security teams drown in dashboards and false positives. Palo Alto’s ‘platformisation’ approach gives our clients one integrated, high-fidelity view of risk – cutting noise, costs and response times all at once.”

From tool sprawl to an integrated cyber platform

Modern threat actors are faster and more co-ordinated than ever. Adding more isolated point solutions often increases risk by expanding the attack surface and stretching already-scarce security talent. NEC XON’s adoption of Palo Alto Networks’ unified platform – encompassing next-generation firewalls, Cortex XDR, Prisma SASE, Prisma Cloud and XSOAR orchestration – allows customers to:

• Reduce total cost of ownership by consolidating licences, training, and infrastructure.
• Accelerate mean-time-to-detect and respond through a single analytics and automation fabric.
• Eliminate alert fatigue, focusing analysts on high-value incidents that truly matter.

Diamond-tier partnership delivers measurable value

NEC XON’s Diamond Partner status grants early access to Palo Alto product road maps, security advisories and preferential commercial terms – benefits that flow directly to clients.

“Our Diamond relationship isn’t just a badge,” Taylor explains. “It lets us bring the very latest capabilities – and sharper pricing – into every engagement. Clients see both technical and financial returns from day one.”

Proven ROI in the field

Recent engagements demonstrate the impact of NEC XON’s architecture-first methodology:

• Telecommunications provider: A looming ransomware attack was neutralised in minutes with Cortex XDR, avoiding multimillion-pound downtime and remediation costs.
• Financial services firm: Consolidating firewalls, SASE and XDR on a single platform cut annual software spend by 28% and slashed incident triage times by 54%.

NEC XON is already integrating Palo Alto’s AI-native innovations – such as Cortex XSIAM and AIOps – to deliver predictive, self-healing security environments.

“We’re marching towards hyper-automation,” Taylor added. “By fusing Palo Alto’s AI engines with our architecture-led delivery, we’re turning reactive security into proactive, autonomous defence that keeps ROI climbing year after year.”