Key Takeaways
- Nearly all (99%) of surveyed U.S. security leaders in healthcare and manufacturing are implementing or planning microsegmentation, yet only 9% report protecting more than 80% of critical systems.
- Almost half (≈48%) experienced a lateral‑movement attack in the past year, despite 57% ranking microsegmentation as their top initiative to stop such threats.
- Identity‑based controls are viewed as essential by 69% of respondents, but comprehensive device visibility remains the biggest shortfall (44%).
- Legacy tools (VLANs, ACLs, agent‑based solutions) dominate current practice; only 22% have hands‑on experience with modern, agent‑free microsegmentation.
- Business pressures—cyber‑insurance mandates (32%) and regulatory compliance (60%)—are driving interest, while 62% say today’s solutions are easier to deploy than those from five years ago.
- Modern, identity‑centric microsegmentation enforces policy directly on existing network switches, enabling rapid coverage across IT, IoT, OT, and IoMT environments without agents or hardware changes.
Implementation Intent vs. Coverage Gap
A new Omdia survey commissioned by Elisity reveals a stark disconnect between intention and execution. Ninety‑nine percent of the 352 cybersecurity decision makers surveyed in healthcare and manufacturing said they are either implementing or planning microsegmentation. However, only 9 % indicated that more than 80 % of their critical systems are actually protected by these controls. Consequently, over 90 % of organizations lag behind meaningful coverage, leaving a substantial portion of their assets exposed despite widespread interest in the technology.
Lateral‑Movement Threats Persist
The survey also highlights the real‑world impact of insufficient segmentation. Nearly half of the respondents (about 48 %) reported experiencing a lateral‑movement attack within the past twelve months. At the same time, 57 % identified microsegmentation as their top initiative to prevent such threats, underscoring a clear recognition of its value but also a failure to translate that recognition into effective defense.
Visibility and Identity Gaps
When asked about the most critical shortcomings in their current microsegmentation efforts, 44 % of participants pointed to a lack of comprehensive device visibility. Without knowing what devices exist and how they communicate, policymaking remains guesswork. In contrast, 69 % emphasized that identity‑based controls are essential for any modern solution, indicating a strong preference for policies that follow users, workloads, or devices rather than static network locations.
Legacy Approaches Still Dominate
Despite the desire for modern controls, many organizations continue to rely on outdated mechanisms. VLANs, ACLs, and agent‑based tools remain prevalent, requiring constant rework and leaving east‑west traffic largely unchecked. Only 22 % of respondents said they have hands‑on experience with contemporary, agent‑free microsegmentation, illustrating a noticeable gap in both awareness and practical deployment of newer technologies.
Business Drivers Shaping Adoption
External pressures are accelerating interest in microsegmentation. Thirty‑two percent of respondents cited cyber‑insurance requirements as a direct catalyst for exploring segmentation solutions, while 60 % noted regulatory compliance as a motivating factor. Additionally, 62 % believe that today’s microsegmentation tools are easier to deploy than those available five years ago, suggesting that perceived complexity is diminishing—a trend that could help bridge the implementation gap.
Zero‑Trust Alignment and Integration Challenges
Microsegmentation is increasingly seen as a cornerstone of Zero Trust strategies, with 68 % of participants pursuing it as part of such a framework. However, integration hurdles differ by sector. Healthcare organizations struggle most with integrating microsegmentation data into SIEM, EDR, and SOAR platforms, and they highlight visiting clinicians (74 %) and clinical staff (72 %) as groups needing the most granular policy oversight due to the constant flow of managed and unmanaged devices. Manufacturing firms, constrained by zero‑downtime requirements and legacy OT systems, identify remote engineers (70 %) as a top segmentation priority and cite ICS and building‑management system integration as a secondary challenge.
Modern Identity‑Based Microsegmentation in Practice
The survey explains how contemporary microsegmentation differs from first‑generation approaches. Rather than relying on VLAN reconfiguration or hardware changes, modern solutions enforce policy directly on existing network switches, using identity as the basis for access decisions. This agent‑free model eliminates the need for endpoint agents, reduces operational overhead, and allows organizations to extend consistent protection across IT, IoT, OT, and IoMT environments. Deployments can be completed in weeks rather than years, dramatically reducing the window of exposure to ransomware and lateral‑movement attacks.
Industry Voices on the Shift
James Winebrenner, CEO of Elisity, noted that while microsegmentation has matured, many organizations still bear the scars of earlier, overly complex implementations. He emphasized that identity‑based microsegmentation lets security teams apply precise policies on the switches they already operate, turning security from a gate‑keeper into an enabler. Hollie Hennessy, principal analyst at Omdia, added that the data shows a clear shift: enterprises intend to deploy microsegmentation and now view modern solutions as both easier and more effective.
Customer Experiences Validate the Approach
Real‑world testimonials reinforce the survey’s findings. Nathan Phoenix, information security officer at Southern Illinois Healthcare, described how previous NAC‑type tools fell short until Elisity offered a solution that was easy to manage, easy to maintain, and quickly operable. Max Everett, CISO at Shaw Industries, echoed the sentiment, explaining that his organization assumed breach attempts would succeed and sought an automated way to halt lateral movement across plants—precisely what identity‑based microsegmentation provides.
Conclusion
The Omdia‑Elisity survey paints a picture of strong intent but uneven execution in the microsegmentation space. While virtually all organizations recognize the need to curb lateral movement and are planning or deploying controls, most still protect less than 80 % of critical assets, rely on legacy techniques, and lack visibility and identity‑centric policies. Business pressures such as cyber‑insurance and compliance, coupled with the growing ease of modern deployments, present an opportunity to close the gap. By adopting identity‑based microsegmentation that leverages existing switch infrastructure, enterprises can achieve rapid, comprehensive protection across diverse IT, OT, and IoT landscapes—turning a widely desired goal into an operational reality.