A SOC is not a tool or a room — it is a rota and a process. That makes the decision to run one primarily a staffing decision: round-the-clock monitoring needs several shifts of analysts long before it needs another licence. What follows is what such a team does, what it is made of, and when buying the capability is cheaper than building it.
What is a Security Operations Center (SOC)?
A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a dedicated facility that monitors, detects, analyzes, and responds to cybersecurity threats in real time. A 24/7 SOC provides continuous protection of an organization’s IT infrastructure — 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
In an era where the average time to identify and contain a breach is 241 days and the average incident cost is $4.44 million (IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025), a SOC is not a luxury — it’s a necessity.
Why 24/7 and not business hours only?
Attackers don’t work 9-to-5:
- The vast majority of ransomware attacks happen outside business hours (nights, weekends)
- The time from breach to data exfiltration can be counted in hours — if SOC doesn’t operate at night, the attack completes before the morning shift
- NIS2 and DORA regulations require incident reporting within 24 hours — without 24/7 SOC you may not meet the deadline
SOC architecture: people, processes, tools
People
By nFlo estimate, a 24/7 SOC needs 9-15 FTE over 3 shifts (3-5 people per shift), for example with this split of roles:
| Role | Count | Responsibility |
|---|---|---|
| L1 Analyst (Triage) | 5-8 | Initial alert analysis, classification, escalation |
| L2 Analyst (Investigation) | 2-4 | Deep incident investigation, event correlation |
| L3 Analyst (Hunt) | 1-2 | Threat hunting, malware analysis, forensics |
| SOC Manager | 1 | Team management, reporting, process oversight |
Core tools
| Category | Tools | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| SIEM | Splunk, Microsoft Sentinel, Elastic, QRadar | Log correlation, alerting |
| SOAR | Palo Alto XSOAR, Splunk SOAR, TheHive | Automated incident response |
| EDR | CrowdStrike, SentinelOne, Defender for Endpoint | Endpoint protection |
| NDR | Darktrace, Vectra, ExtraHop | Network traffic analysis |
| TIP | MISP, Anomali, Recorded Future | Threat Intelligence |
What SOC monitors
- Network — firewall, IDS/IPS, proxy, DNS, NetFlow
- Endpoints — workstations, servers, mobile devices (EDR)
- Cloud — AWS CloudTrail, Azure Activity Log, GCP Audit Logs
- Identity — Active Directory, Entra ID, SSO, MFA events
- Applications — application logs, WAF, API gateway
- Email — anti-phishing, DLP, attachment analysis
Deployment models
| Model | Cost | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| In-house SOC | Highest of the three (team, tools, infrastructure) | Large enterprises, critical infrastructure |
| Managed SOC | Monthly subscription, depends on device count and SLA level | Mid-size companies, fast deployment |
| Hybrid SOC | Between in-house and managed | Organizations with existing security team |
Key SOC metrics
| Metric | Target | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| MTTD (Mean Time to Detect) | < 1 hour | How fast you spot incidents |
| MTTR (Mean Time to Respond) | < 4 hours | How fast you contain them |
| False Positive Rate | < 30% | Signal vs noise ratio |
How nFlo can help
nFlo provides SOC and security monitoring services:
- Managed SOC — 24/7 monitoring with response times agreed per incident severity in the contract
- SIEM deployment — Splunk, Elastic, Microsoft Sentinel configuration
- Threat Hunting — proactive threat detection in your infrastructure
- Incident Response — rapid response to security incidents
Contact us to discuss security monitoring for your organization.
When buying the capability beats building it
The arithmetic is simpler than it looks, because the most expensive component of a SOC is not technology. Covering a 24/7 rota takes at least five analyst posts before anyone tunes a rule, hunts a threat or writes a report. Add attrition: an analyst leaving after a year takes with them the knowledge of your environment that exists in no document.
That is why most organisations below a certain scale buy the capability instead of building it: SOC as a Service.
Related topics
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Frequently asked questions
What is a 24/7 SOC?
A 24/7 SOC (Security Operations Center) is a dedicated security facility that monitors an organization's IT infrastructure around the clock. A team of security analysts continuously analyzes logs, alerts, and events, detecting and responding to security incidents in real time.
How much does a 24/7 SOC cost?
Costs vary by model. In-house SOC: the highest annual cost (team, tools, infrastructure). Managed SOC (outsourced): a monthly subscription depending on device count and SLA level. Hybrid SOC: mix of internal and external resources. For most mid-size companies, managed SOC is the most cost-effective option.
What tools does a SOC use?
Key SOC tools include: SIEM (Security Information and Event Management) for log correlation and alerting, SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation and Response) for automated incident response, EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response) for endpoint protection, and Threat Intelligence platforms for threat data.
What is the difference between SOC and NOC?
SOC (Security Operations Center) monitors security — detecting attacks, malware, and unauthorized access. NOC (Network Operations Center) monitors availability and performance — whether servers are running and the network is stable. Both centers are complementary.
