Build a SOC or Buy a Managed SOC? A Cost Comparison

Should you buy a managed security operations centre (SOC) service or build your own? The question often comes not from the security team but from the finance director. The answer starts with seeing the real cost of 24/7 service.

Why is 24/7 coverage expensive?

A year has 8,760 hours. After annual leave, sickness and training, an analyst produces about 1,800 productive hours. Filling a single seat 24/7 takes about 4.9 people; with shift cover, six analysts are needed in practice.

Sample cost of your own SOC (yearly, approximate)

The cost of a managed SOC

For a company with 1,000 endpoints, a managed SOC service ranges from 180,000 to 400,000 TRY a month depending on coverage and response level; that is 2.2 - 4.8 million TRY a year. This fee includes analysts, the platform, threat intelligence and incident response hours.

When does your own SOC make sense?

• If you have more than 10,000 endpoints and many lines of business
• If you have a very special environment where data cannot leave because of regulation
• If you have already built and trained a security team

The hybrid option

Many organisations choose a "co-managed" model: 24/7 first-level monitoring and incident triage run in the Omurga SOC, while second-level decisions and business impact assessment stay with the customer's own security officer. This approach lowers cost and keeps knowledge in-house.

The deciding question

"Who will pick up the phone at 03:00 when there is a cyberattack?" If you cannot give a clear and permanent answer to this, a managed SOC is not a luxury but a risk management need. The figures are examples; we recommend getting a quote for your own environment.

Clauses to check in the contract

In a managed SOC contract look at the log sources and number of endpoints covered, whether incident response hours are included, detection and response time commitments, where data is stored and the return of data when the contract ends. Ask for the monthly report to include not only the number of incidents but also mean detection and response times.