Why Watch These Vendors in 2019
Cloud security in 2019 is less about single products and more about layered platforms that cover identity, workload protection, and data governance. The vendors worth watching are those shipping native integrations across hybrid environments, expanding beyond perimeter-centric tools, and responding quickly to misconfiguration — still the leading cause of cloud breaches. This article surveys the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019, compares their approaches, and highlights the trade-offs each carries for teams weighing budget, expertise, and multi-cloud strategy.
- Why Watch These Vendors in 2019
- Comparison of the Top Cloud Security Vendors to Watch in 2019
- Cloudflare: Edge-First Protection With Global Scale
- CrowdStrike: Endpoint Intelligence Applied to Cloud Workloads
- Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud: Unified Visibility Across Multi-Cloud
- Zscaler: Replacing Appliances With a Cloud Security Services Edge
- Identity-Focused Vendors: Okta and SailPoint
- Data-Centric Protection With Varonis
- How to Choose Among the Top Cloud Security Vendors to Watch in 2019
- The Bigger Picture: Layered Defense Over Single Vendors
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Comparison of the Top Cloud Security Vendors to Watch in 2019
| Vendor | Primary Focus | Best For | Key Trade-Off |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cloudflare | Edge security, WAF, DDoS mitigation | Organizations needing fast global threat absorption and simple DNS-layer controls | Less depth in workload or identity-centric protection |
| CrowdStrike | Endpoint and workload detection, threat intelligence | Teams prioritizing EDR-grade visibility for cloud workloads and rapid incident response | Pricing and complexity can scale quickly |
| Palo Alto Networks (Prisma Cloud) | Full-stack cloud security, CNAPP | Enterprises running multi-cloud with a need for unified policy and compliance | Requires investment in training and integration |
| Zscaler | Cloud-native security services, zero trust | Organizations replacing traditional appliances with a secure access service edge | Heavy reliance on routing traffic through Zscaler infrastructure |
| Okta | Identity governance and access management | Teams building zero trust around strong authentication and lifecycle management | Core strength is identity, not workload or network security |
| SailPoint | Identity governance, compliance, and access certification | Enterprises needing audit-ready identity controls and role management | Less visibility into real-time endpoint or cloud workload threats |
| Varonis | Data security, file analytics, and access monitoring | Teams focused on detecting unusual data access and permission risks | Best in data-centric scenarios; narrower scope for network or edge controls |
Cloudflare: Edge-First Protection With Global Scale
Cloudflare earned a spot among the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019 because its edge network absorbs massive DDoS attacks and delivers web application firewall rules close to users. Its approach lowers the burden on internal security teams by pushing controls to the network edge. For organizations running SaaS-heavy or consumer-facing workloads, Cloudflare provides fast time-to-value. The trade-off is that Cloudflare is strongest at the edge; teams needing deep workload inspection, identity governance, or data-centric controls must layer additional tools alongside it.
CrowdStrike: Endpoint Intelligence Applied to Cloud Workloads
CrowdStrike built its reputation on endpoint detection and response, and in 2019 it extended that intelligence to cloud workloads. Its lightweight agent provides behavioral telemetry that helps teams spot compromised instances, lateral movement, and malicious process execution inside cloud environments. The strength is visibility — CrowdStrike correlates endpoint and cloud signals into a single timeline. The trade-off is cost and operational complexity, especially for smaller teams that lack dedicated threat-hunting resources.
Palo Alto Networks Prisma Cloud: Unified Visibility Across Multi-Cloud
Palo Alto Networks positioned Prisma Cloud as a CNAPP that stitches together compute, network, and data security across AWS, Azure, and GCP. In 2019, it was one of the few platforms offering a single pane for compliance, threat detection, and misconfiguration scanning. For regulated enterprises, this breadth is compelling. The trade-off is implementation depth: Prisma Cloud requires careful policy design, ongoing tuning, and skilled staff to avoid alert fatigue and underutilization.
Zscaler: Replacing Appliances With a Cloud Security Services Edge
Zscaler took a different approach in 2019 by replacing traditional appliances with a cloud-delivered secure access service edge. Traffic flows through Zscaler's global network, where it is inspected for threats, data loss, and policy violations. Organizations looking to simplify their security stack and remove hardware appliances find this attractive. The trade-off is architectural dependence: teams must route traffic through Zscaler infrastructure, which can introduce latency and requires trust in a single vendor's global backbone.
Identity-Focused Vendors: Okta and SailPoint
Identity became a central pillar of cloud security in 2019, and both Okta and SailPoint reflect that shift in different ways. Okta focused on authentication, single sign-on, and lifecycle management, making it a foundation for zero trust architectures. SailPoint concentrated on governance, access certifications, and compliance reporting around who has access to what. Together they highlight a key truth about the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019: identity tools are no longer peripheral but central to workload and data protection. However, neither vendor covers network or workload security on its own, so pairing Okta or SailPoint with a workload or edge platform is essential.
Data-Centric Protection With Varonis
Varonis stands out among the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019 for its focus on data access analytics. It maps who can reach sensitive files and flags unusual permission use, stale data, and overprivileged accounts. For teams struggling with cloud storage sprawl and permission drift, Varonis surfaces risks that perimeter tools miss. The limitation is scope — Varonis is strongest in data security and less relevant for edge protection or workload threat detection.
How to Choose Among the Top Cloud Security Vendors to Watch in 2019
Choosing among the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019 depends on where your biggest gaps live. If misconfiguration is your leading risk, a CNAPP like Prisma Cloud or an edge WAF like Cloudflare will matter more than an identity tool. If privileged access and certification cycles are the concern, Okta or SailPoint deserve priority. If data access visibility is missing, Varonis fills a specific need. In practice, most teams combine two or three vendors — edge protection, workload detection, and identity governance — because no single platform in 2019 covered every layer well enough to stand alone.
The Bigger Picture: Layered Defense Over Single Vendors
The takeaway from surveying the top cloud security vendors to watch in 2019 is that the market was moving toward specialization and integration, not all-in-one platforms. Cloudflare handled the edge, CrowdStrike watched the workloads, Okta controlled access, and Varonis monitored data. Each vendor had a clear trade-off: narrower focus means stronger execution in its lane but more integration work for the buyer. For security leaders, the practical question was less about picking a winner and more about composing a stack that covers identity, edge, workload, and data without leaving gaps that attackers exploit.