What Does the Cyber Security Skills Gap Mean for your SOC?

A well-run security operations centre (SOC) strengthens your ability to detect, investigate and contain threats. But building this capability in-house is costly, resource-intensive and relies on cyber security specialists who are increasingly hard to find and keep.

For most UK organisations, the question is not whether security operations are important, but whether running an in-house SOC is the best way to achieve them.

Is the Cyber Security Skills Gap Still a Problem?

Yes. The UK’s cyber security skills shortage still limits organisations’ ability to deliver essential security operations and build more advanced capabilities.

Research cited in the 2025 UK cyber security labour market report indicates that 49% of businesses have a basic technical skills gap. This includes difficulty configuring firewalls, securely managing personal data and detecting malware.

Security operations demand a broad mix of expertise. A mature SOC needs skills across monitoring, detection engineering, threat intelligence, cloud security, incident response and digital forensics. Hiring one specialist is not enough. Organisations need to build, manage and retain a multidisciplinary team.

Professionals with these skills have options. Salary matters, but so do career development, effective processes, modern technology and varied security challenges. Organisations that cannot offer this environment will struggle to attract or keep the right people.

Is an In-House SOC Always the Best Option?

An in-house SOC suits organisations with the scale, budget and operational maturity to support it long term.

Internal teams can develop detailed knowledge of the business environment, work closely with other departments and align their priorities directly with organisational requirements. The organisation also retains control over its technology, processes, operating model and staffing.

However, this control comes with significant responsibilities:

• Recruiting and retaining analysts with different levels of experience.
• Providing cover during evenings, weekends, holidays and staff absences.
• Investing continuously in training and professional development.
• Selecting, integrating and maintaining security technologies.
• Developing and tuning detection rules as threats and systems change.
• Managing alert volumes without overwhelming analysts.
• Maintaining incident-response procedures and escalation routes.
• Demonstrating security performance to leadership and regulators.

The true cost goes far beyond salaries. Technology licences, management, recruitment, training, facilities and out-of-hours coverage all add up. CyberOne’s guide to building an in-house SOC explores these operational demands in more detail.

An in-house model gives more direct control, but that only delivers value if the organisation can sustain the right people, processes and technology over time.

How Does a Managed SOC Address the Skills Gap?

A managed SOC gives you access to a proven security operations capability without the need to recruit and retain every specialist yourself.

A managed SOC does not replace your internal IT or security team. Instead, it extends your capabilities. You keep business context and decision-making, while the managed SOC brings specialist monitoring, investigation and response expertise.

Key benefits can include:

Access to Broader Expertise

A managed provider brings together analysts, detection engineers, incident responders and threat specialists in one team. This gives you access to expertise that is often hard or uneconomical to build and maintain internally.

Continuous Security Monitoring

Cyber threats do not keep to business hours. Delivering true 24/7 coverage in-house means running multiple shifts, providing management cover and planning for leave or absence.

A managed SOC spreads these operational demands across an established team, so you get continuous monitoring without building your own shift-based operation.

More Predictable Costs

A managed SOC turns variable recruitment, technology and staffing costs into a predictable service fee. But not all providers are equal. Compare pricing alongside coverage, response responsibilities, service levels and any extra incident-response charges.

Better Use of Security Technology

Buying a security platform does not guarantee effective detection. Tools need the right data sources, tuned analytics, clear investigation processes and people who can act on alerts.

A managed SOC can help organisations make better use of platforms such as Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft Defender XDR by connecting security signals with ongoing analysis and response. CyberOne’s Microsoft Sentinel and Defender XDR deployment service supports organisations that need to modernise or integrate their security operations platform.

Experience Across Different Environments

Managed SOC teams support multiple customers, so they see a wider range of attack techniques and operational scenarios than teams monitoring a single environment.

This broader exposure is valuable, but the provider still needs to understand your critical systems, normal activity, risk appetite and escalation requirements.

Scalability

A managed service can adapt as you add users, cloud services, locations or data sources. This reduces the delays and cost of recruiting new personnel every time your security needs change.

What Should You Look for in a Managed SOC Provider?

Not all managed SOCs deliver the same level of service. You need to be clear about what the provider will monitor, investigate and respond to.

Important questions include:

• Is coverage provided continuously or only during defined service hours?
• Which technologies and data sources are included?
• Who investigates alerts and determines their severity?
• Can the provider contain threats, or does it only notify the customer?
• How are responsibilities agreed before an incident occurs?
• What service levels govern triage, escalation and response?
• How will the provider learn the organisation’s environment?
• What reports and evidence will leadership receive?
• How does the service support existing Microsoft investments?
• What happens when a major incident exceeds the standard service scope?

A suitable provider does more than forward alerts. It strengthens detection, reduces operational pressure and gives you a clear path from suspicious activity to investigation and containment.

Strengthen Security Operations With CyberOne

CyberOne’s Managed SOC and MDR service uses Microsoft Sentinel alongside wider Microsoft security technologies to help organisations improve threat visibility, detection and response. The service is designed to address skills shortages, reduce the operational cost of running an in-house SOC and provide access to specialist security expertise.

For organisations requiring wider detection and response across identities, endpoints, cloud services and other security signals, CyberOne’s MXDR as a Service provides 24/7 monitoring, investigation and response within the customer’s Microsoft environment.

Recruitment alone will not close the cyber security skills gap. Organisations need an operating model that delivers the right expertise, technology and response capability without adding unsustainable cost or complexity.

For many organisations, the answer is to combine internal knowledge with an experienced managed security partner.

Frequently Asked Questions