Okta, SailPoint and Delinea: Rivals Inherited With CyberArkNarrow moat

Palo Alto Networks (PANW) — moat facet

Buying CyberArk put Palo Alto into a fight with Okta, SailPoint and Delinea, rivals it never faced as a firewall company.

With CyberArk, Palo Alto bought a place in identity security, and with it a new set of rivals. Its list of independent competitors now includes Delinea, Okta and SailPoint1, companies it did not face as a firewall and security operations vendor. The 10-K is direct about it: "As a result of the CyberArk acquisition, the scope and size of our business have substantially changed, which resulted in certain incremental risks, including increased competition"2.

Idira cross-selling, Q4 FY2026Shared leads between the sales forcesmore than 400New logos from the combinationmore than 200Growth in large identity dealsabove 50%Q4 FY2026 call via Yahoo Finance
Hundreds of shared leads in the first half year.

This is a different kind of competition. In firewalls Palo Alto is the incumbent; in identity it is the new owner of one of the established players, competing with others that have their own installed bases.

The early signs are encouraging. On the fourth-quarter call management said Idira deals with total contract value above $5 million increased 50%, and that the combined company generated more than 400 shared leads and more than 200 new logos3. On a pro forma basis Idira grew 21% in fiscal 20264.

Palo Alto's advantage here is cross-selling: it can offer identity security to firewall and Cortex customers who never bought from CyberArk. The rivals' advantage is focus, since identity is all they do.

The identity market is where Palo Alto has the least history: it entered with the close of CyberArk in February 20265. Part of the business it bought still sells on-premise licences, which Palo Alto now books as product revenue6.

The contest will be decided by how much of Idira's growth comes from Palo Alto's own customers. Large Idira deals grew 50% in the latest quarter7; a slowdown to the growth rate of Idira as a whole would mean the cross-selling advantage is not materialising.

Moat trajectory: Widening

Idira deals above $5M TCV +50%; 200 new logos.

The number that tests this moat
Reported
Idira deals above $5M total contract value, growth
+50% (Q4 FY2026)

Whether cross-selling beats the identity specialists; a slowdown to Idira's overall pace would mean it is not working.

Source: Q4 FY2026 call highlights (Yahoo Finance) ↗
References
  1. ReportedIts list of independent competitors now includes Delinea, Okta and SailPoint, companies it did not face as a firewall and security operations vendor.
    Palo Alto Networks Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 31 July 2026) - Item 1 business and Item 7 MD&A: platforms, customers, channels, employees, revenue by type and geography. — FY2026 · publ. 10 September 2026 · source ↗
  2. ReportedThe 10-K is direct about it: "As a result of the CyberArk acquisition, the scope and size of our business have substantially changed, which resulted in certain incremental risks, including increased competition".
    Palo Alto Networks Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 31 July 2026) - Item 1A risk factors, Israel, supply and legal proceedings. — FY2026 · publ. 10 September 2026 · source ↗
  3. ReportedOn the fourth-quarter call management said Idira deals with total contract value above $5 million increased 50%, and that the combined company generated more than 400 shared leads and more than 200 new logos.
    Yahoo Finance summary of the Palo Alto Networks fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 call - XSIAM, Prisma AIRS and observability ARR, platformizations, Idira deals and hardware share of revenue. — Q4 FY2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
  4. ReportedOn a pro forma basis Idira grew 21% in fiscal 2026.
    Palo Alto Networks fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 earnings call transcript (Motley Fool) - platform revenue, platformized cohort retention, large deals and fiscal 2027 modelling points. — Q4 FY2026 · publ. 1 September 2026 · source ↗
  5. ReportedThe identity market is where Palo Alto has the least history: it entered with the close of CyberArk in February 2026.
    Palo Alto Networks press release on completing the acquisition of CyberArk, Form 8-K exhibit 99.1 - the Israeli R&D centre, the planned CYBR listing on the TASE and machine identities outnumbering human identities. — February 2026 · publ. 11 February 2026 · source ↗
  6. ReportedPart of the business it bought still sells on-premise licences, which Palo Alto now books as product revenue.
    Palo Alto Networks Form 10-K for fiscal 2026 (year ended 31 July 2026) - Item 1 business and Item 7 MD&A: platforms, customers, channels, employees, revenue by type and geography. — FY2026 · publ. 10 September 2026 · source ↗
  7. ReportedLarge Idira deals grew 50% in the latest quarter; a slowdown to the growth rate of Idira as a whole would mean the cross-selling advantage is not materialising.
    Yahoo Finance summary of the Palo Alto Networks fourth-quarter fiscal 2026 call - XSIAM, Prisma AIRS and observability ARR, platformizations, Idira deals and hardware share of revenue. — Q4 FY2026 · publ. September 2026 · source ↗
Sources
Generated September 26, 2026