SOC for SMEs: 24/7 Security Monitoring Without Enterprise Cost

A Security Operations Center (SOC) is a dedicated team that monitors, detects, and responds to security threats in real time. Historically, only large enterprises could afford one. Today, Managed SOCs make this accessible for SMEs.

Why You Need 24/7 Monitoring

Cyberattackers don't respect office hours. In fact, they prefer to attack outside business hours because they know nobody's watching.

Revealing statistics:

• 76% of ransomware attacks execute between Friday night and Monday morning
• Average detection time without monitoring is 197 days
• 60% of SMEs that suffer a serious attack close within 6 months

Without continuous monitoring, an attacker can be inside your network for months collecting data, preparing their attack, and maximizing damage.

What a SOC Does

Continuous Monitoring

The SOC collects and analyzes security data from your entire infrastructure:

• Server logs: Who connected, what they did, when
• Network traffic: Communication patterns, suspicious connections to malicious IPs
• Endpoints: Activity on laptops, desktops, and servers (processes, files, configuration changes)
• Email: Phishing attempts, malicious files, suspicious URLs
• Cloud: Activity in Microsoft 365, Azure, AWS

Threat Detection

Using rules, artificial intelligence, and known threat databases:

• Indicators of Compromise (IoC): Hashes of malicious files, command and control server IPs, known phishing domains
• User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA): Detects when a user or system behaves abnormally (login at 3am from another country, mass file download, privilege escalation)
• Event correlation: Connects seemingly innocuous events that together indicate an attack (failed login attempt + network scan + access to sensitive files)

Incident Response

When a real threat is detected:

• Immediate containment: Isolate compromised device, block attacking IP, disable compromised account
• Investigation: Determine scope, root cause, and affected data
• Remediation: Remove the threat, restore systems, and close the vulnerability
• Documentation: Complete incident report for compliance and continuous improvement

Internal SOC vs Managed SOC

Internal SOC

Cost: $3-8 million MXN annually minimum:

• 3-5 security analysts (24/7 shifts require at least 5 people)
• SIEM tools (Security Information and Event Management): $500K-$2M annually
• Continuous training
• Infrastructure

Advantages: Total control, deep knowledge of your environment.

Disadvantages: Prohibitive cost for SMEs, difficult to recruit and retain security talent.

Managed SOC

Cost: $150,000-$600,000 MXN annually (depending on size and scope):

• 24/7 monitoring by a shared team of expert analysts
• SIEM tools included
• Updated threat intelligence
• Incident response support

Advantages: Fraction of the cost, access to senior expertise, scalable.

Disadvantages: Less customization, provider dependency.

For 95% of SMEs, a managed SOC is the right choice.

What to Look for in a Managed SOC Provider

Coverage

• 24/7/365: Not just business hours. Attacks don't wait.
• All your systems: Microsoft 365, on-premise servers, cloud, endpoints
• Response included: Not just alerts, but active containment

Technology

• Modern SIEM: Ability to correlate events from multiple sources
• Integrated EDR: Endpoint visibility and response
• Threat intelligence: Real-time updated threat feeds

Clear SLAs

• Detection time: How long from when an event occurs until it's analyzed?
• Notification time: How long from detection until you're informed?
• Response time: How long to contain an active threat?

Good SLAs for SMEs:

• Detection: under 15 minutes
• Critical notification: under 1 hour
• Containment: under 4 hours

Reports and Visibility

• Real-time dashboard
• Monthly activity reports
• Metrics: events analyzed, threats detected, incidents resolved
• Improvement recommendations

When You Need a SOC

You need a SOC now if:

• You handle customer data (personal, financial, health)
• You have remote employees accessing corporate systems
• Your company depends on digital systems to operate
• Your clients require security certifications
• You operate in regulated industries (financial, health, government)

You can wait if:

• Your company is very small (fewer than 10 employees) and doesn't handle sensitive data
• You don't have significant digital infrastructure

The simiriki model

simiriki does not operate a 24/7 SOC. We operate an Operational Infrastructure engine on Microsoft 365 + Azure that automates the posture and remediation a SOC would traditionally watch over. Specifically:

• Free scan (simiriki.com/scan): the 155 Microsoft Graph rules of the 201-rule library on your tenant. The preview typically appears in minutes. The complete report is delivered on a best-effort basis, with a non-guaranteed estimated target of up to 1 hour. No card. The 46 Azure Resource Manager controls require separate admin consent and Reader access.
• Audit (free): the same scan in full, with a prioritized remediation plan and an executive report. Estimated delivery in under an hour. No card.
• Operation ($3,900 USD to start, then $2,400 USD/mo — cancel anytime): continuous monitoring of the 201 rules with a monthly executive memo, plus 188 playbooks mapped by capability (21 Graph automations; the rest guided or report-only) under your approval, with before/after evidence, evidence supporting selected LFPDPPP controls, and an immutable audit ledger.
• If you need a 24/7 SOC with humans watching consoles: Microsoft Sentinel + Defender XDR are the products your organization (or a Microsoft-ecosystem MSSP partner) operates. simiriki configures their hardening via Graph as part of the audit; we do not resell those products as our own SKU.

The promise: what a traditional SOC solved with analyst hours, we solve with software that runs every day on your tenant — at a fixed price published before you pay.