New Study Sponsored by Fastly Reveals Modern Application Security Programs Deliver 3x Better Business Outcomes

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Fastly, Inc. (NASDAQ: FSLY), a leading global edge cloud platform, and IDC today released a new study, “From Code to Production: How Modern AppSec Programs Yield 3x Better Business Outcomes,” commissioned by Fastly. The study reveals a strong correlation between modern Application Security (AppSec) programs and significantly improved business outcomes, with the most advanced programs delivering more than three times better results in developer productivity, user experience, and application availability.

The study, based on responses from nearly 1,000 global security and technology leaders across nine countries and 10 industries, categorizes organizations into four tiers of AppSec maturity: Emerging, Evolving, Established, and Exceptional. These categories were determined by IDC using a security index to enable a comparative assessment of AppSec program maturity. Modern AppSec programs are those that leverage automation, continuous delivery, and impact-based prioritization to keep pace with rapid release cycles without adding friction or slowing the business down. The result is better business metrics – faster time to market, stronger uptime, better user experience, all while reducing breaches and lowering remediation costs.

By evaluating key capabilities and practices across these tiers, the report provides a benchmark for security and business leaders to assess their own security programs and identify opportunities to advance toward an “Exceptional” AppSec posture and its associated business benefits.

Key findings

Organizations with modern AppSec practices demonstrate exceptional security and business outcomes, including:

• Improved Developer Productivity – Exceptional organizations are 3.6x more likely to achieve a 20% or greater improvement in developer productivity compared to those in the Evolving category
• Better User Experience – Exceptional programs are 3.7x more likely than Emerging programs to reduce negative user experiences by more than 20%
• Increased Application Availability – Exceptional organizations are 3.6x more likely to report a 20% or greater improvement in application availability compared to the average
• Fewer Data Breaches – Exceptional programs are 1.9x less likely to experience a data breach than Emerging programs

“IDC’s new study, sponsored by Fastly, underscores the critical role exceptional modern application security programs play in driving both security and business success,” said Marshall Erwin, CISO at Fastly. “Organizations with exceptional AppSec programs are far better equipped to mitigate catastrophic and costly incidents like data breaches, and security and business leaders now have a clear roadmap to follow to elevate their programs and achieve transformative outcomes.”

The study also highlights regional and sector-specific trends in AppSec maturity, with Japan (18%), the UK (16%) and the US (12%), as well as the High Technology (35.5%) and Travel and Hospitality (18.3%) industries all leading in the concentration of ‘Exceptional’ organizations.

Download the full study today to see how your organization compares.

IDC InfoBrief, sponsored by Fastly, From Code to Production How Modern AppSec Programs Yield 3x Better Business Outcomes, #US53892325, December 2025

About Fastly

Fastly’s powerful and programmable edge cloud platform helps the world’s top brands deliver online experiences that are fast, safe, and engaging through edge compute, delivery, security, and observability offerings that improve site performance, enhance security, and empower innovation at global scale. Compared to other providers, Fastly’s powerful, high-performance, and modern platform architecture empowers developers to deliver secure websites and apps with rapid time-to-market and demonstrated, industry-leading cost savings. Organizations around the world trust Fastly to help them upgrade the internet experience, including Reddit, Neiman Marcus, Universal Music Group, and SeatGeek. Learn more about Fastly at https://www.fastly.com, and follow us @fastly.

Source: Fastly, Inc.