Upon identifying the need for a SIEM within your organisation, or deciding to change to a different SIEM solution, it’s important that you choose the right one for your business’s unique needs.
There are a variety of different things to consider when deciding upon a SIEM, which we will go through in this article. We will also discuss the importance of correct management, installation, and configuration, which might not be achievable with an in-house team.
If you aren’t sure what a SIEM is or would like to take a look at a few options for a SIEM, you can look at our recent blogs which discuss these topics and more.
Define your objectives for the SIEM
Whether your organisation is an SME or a large corporation, there are many reasons why adopting a SIEM or changing to a different one is a good idea.
As well as providing incident response management and assistance with compliance for regulations and certifications, they also bring security monitoring, network visibility, and threat detection capabilities.
These are all great reasons to adopt a SIEM, but they might not be exactly what your organisation needs. Before exploring different SIEM solutions, it’s vital to identify what areas of your cyber security a SIEM is going to help you with. Try and think of some use cases where it will provide support to your organisation and why these are important.
Beyond that, map out how a SIEM will fit into your existing cyber security systems, how it will affect your in-house security or IT team, and whether you have the expertise to manage a SIEM.
There are many ways of deploying a SIEM, each of which has its own pros and cons.
What deployment methods are available for SIEMs?
When deciding how to deploy your SIEM, you must carefully consider the pros and cons of each option. Depending on your organisation’s needs, budget, and existing personnel, certain options will be far better than others.
- Entirely self-managed – This option means that your business’ SIEM will be hosted on your own data centers or servers and run by an in-house SOC, security team, or IT team. Organisations that use this method of deployment must have a considerable budget for their security team, as managing a SIEM is exceedingly time-consuming and requires numerous skilled analysts. They must also factor in the costs of licensing, server maintenance, resource provisioning, and integration with new systems.
- Co-managed – Some organisations have an in-house team but don’t have hosting capability. Vice versa, they might have hosting capability but no in-house team. In this situation, a business may elect to outsource one part of the process to an external supplier. Whichever way an organisation decides to do it, they still have to bear in mind that budget and resources will be required for the part they manage.
- Fully Managed Service – If an organisation lacks the necessary hosting and personnel capabilities but still require a SIEM, the best way of moving forward is by outsourcing the entire management of the solution. Wizard Cyber can manage this entire process for your business, providing installation and deployment that requires very little input from the business, as well as managing the day-to-day investigation and security operations.
Is there anything else to consider?
As well as defining the objectives and deployment method, there are a few other things to consider when choosing a SIEM solution. Some SIEMs, like Microsoft Sentinel, feature functionality that goes beyond information and event management. Sentinel, for example, comes with additional SOAR capabilities.
When choosing a SIEM, make sure to check what other tools and functionality it features. It’s also important to check whether this would be an extra cost on top of the costs you are paying.
Payment is another area to consider. Microsoft Sentinel’s monthly costs are simple and easy to understand, as you pay only for what you use, from a data perspective. Other SIEM solutions charge in different ways and for different packages, so make sure you are fully aware of how the billing works.
Is your business looking to deploy a SIEM solution to protect its most critical assets from cyber-attacks? If so, get in touch with us today to speak with one of our cyber security experts. They will be happy to walk you through a fully managed SIEM approach and answer any questions you may have.
