Five reasons why outsourcing security operations is better for business
Cyberattacks are growing in frequency and complexity, which makes a technologically-advanced security operations centre (SOC) essential for many businesses. But those businesses might not have the in-house people or expertise to ensure 24/7/365 monitoring and a fast response against ever-evolving threats. According to almost 60 percent of the IT and cybersecurity decision-makers Fortinet surveyed in 2024, having staff without the right cybersecurity skills and training is the primary cause of security breaches.
Fortunately, managing an in-house SOC isn’t the only option. Companies can outsource their SOC functions to an experienced external partner. Below are five benefits you can achieve with this approach.
1. Reduce cost and complexity
Cybersecurity today involves a customized set of specialized hardware and software solutions from dozens of different vendors. All these solutions must be correctly installed, properly configured and continuously managed. You also need to install the latest patches and upgrades, and reconfigure solutions to ensure they continue to seamlessly work together.
This requires a great deal of expertise and time. It can also involve significant ongoing investment, with large upfront capital costs when you need new solutions. If you lack space, the physical footprint of hardware alone can add costs if you need to buy or lease a bigger data centre.
You don't have to worry about this complexity when outsourcing SOC functions. Outsourcing allows you to work with a single SOC services provider who can tap into the partner relationships they already have with leading hardware and software providers. This can give you a tailored SOC-as-a-service solution at an affordable and predictable monthly cost.
2. Maintain 24/7/365 protection
Threat actors work around the clock, but many organizations don’t have the in-house resources to continuously monitor for attacks. If you’re only actively monitoring your security from nine to five, Monday to Friday, you’re leaving your organization open to significant risks.
Automated solutions that notify an on-call technician when an anomaly is detected after hours are better than having no after-hours monitoring, but response times will be delayed if a breach occurs. Once the on-call technician finally arrives on site or logs into the solution, they may not have the skills to handle the issue quickly and effectively. Even more valuable time is then lost trying to reach the right person. Delays like this are a significant problem because every second counts when it comes to minimizing the impacts of a cyberattack.
An outsourced SOC, fully staffed with security experts 24/7/365, means there’s always someone available to address potential issues. This limits the impact on your organization and on your customers.
3. Bridge the skills gap
A significant skills shortage has put security experts in high demand. More than 60 percent1 of IT decision-makers indicate that they’re struggling to find workers with the network engineering and security experience needed to defend their businesses against cyberthreats. That means even organizations that want to staff an internal security team are having trouble finding the talent they need, while competing for it against companies with deeper pockets.
In addition, most organizations don’t have the budget or time to ensure their in-house staff have up-to-the-minute threat intelligence to stay ahead of evolving threats, or the constant upskilling needed to keep pace as the technologies and strategies for dealing with threats change.
Almost three-quarters of IT decision-makers see the cybersecurity skills shortage as a significant risk.1 Outsourcing your SOC will let you access a deep pool of constantly improving expertise, without having to add headcount to your own organization.
4. Stay compliant with evolving regulations
Any organization that handles data or takes payments is subject to compliance requirements from governments, industry regulatory bodies and the payment card industry. These requirements can be complex and may change, so your SOC analyst team needs to be on top of them at all times.
In many cases, compliance requires specific certifications that need to be achieved, managed and kept up to date, including ISO 27001 and SOC 2 for information security management systems. You also need to show fully transparent reporting and traceability for audits and post-incident investigations.
With an outsourced SOC, you can be confident the required certifications are in place to keep you compliant, and you can quickly and easily gather what you need for an audit or post-incident investigation.
5. Retain visibility into operations
Many organizations run their own SOCs because they want to maintain full visibility into and control over their IT security operations. But without properly-tuned tools – and staff with the knowledge, skills and time to find and address issues – you might not have the whole picture, or have as much control over your security as you think.
An outsourced SOC takes care of day-to-day cybersecurity needs while offering full reporting and shared visibility into everything that happens. This can increase visibility and give you a deeper understanding of your security environment and incidents.
The right SOC partner is your best defence
To get the benefits of an outsourced SOC service, you need to choose the right partner. That means a partner that provides 24/7/365 protection, has a highly skilled team with leading credentials and expertise, and uses next-generation technologies alongside globally-recognized procedures and capabilities to stop threats before they can do harm.
At Bell and Stratejm, our security experts have been providing these services for years, and we stay at the forefront in identifying new threats, solutions, and the technology and human capital to deliver on them. Visit bell.ca/cybersecurity to find out more or to contact us for a consultation.