Today's Threat Environment Requires a Modern SIEM
Why Choose Sentinel to Replace Your Legacy SIEM?
As legacy SIEMs fall further behind in their ability to combat cyber threats, CISOs and security leaders begin planning for the transition to a modern Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) solution.
When moving from a legacy SIEM to a modern SIEM, it’s prudent to explore potential improvements to cyber resilience you’ve been unable to master with your existing system. One example is the improvements in modern systems that help you close the gap between post-incident analysis and proactive security operations because you stop more incidents before they happen.
As you evaluate your options, think carefully about your current situation and the improvements you’d like to see in the future. This may include less time spent on configurations, integrations, and detection engineering.
Additionally, consider:
- What impact will reduced alert fatigue due to AI-driven analysis have on efficiency?
- What silos in security systems will create more efficient workflows if joined up?
- What improvements across security functions and tools will speed incident response?
- How much time does your team spend switching between different tools and correlating information manually?
- How much more business impact could your team have when automation of routine tasks allows them to focus on enabling business innovations?
Microsoft Sentinel, a cloud-native SIEM, is a strong contender for organizations, especially those already invested in the Microsoft ecosystem.
Why Evaluate Microsoft Sentinel?
Microsoft Sentinel is a cloud-native SIEM (Security Information and Event Management), and SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) solution built to address the challenges of modern, complex IT environments. For organizations migrating from an on-premise SIEM like QRadar, Sentinel offers a fresh approach to security operations.
Sentinel's pay-as-you-go pricing model means you only pay for what you use. Contrast that with the capital costs and maintenance of a legacy SIEM. Sentinel also has built-in tools to help manage costs.
Four Top Advantages of Microsoft Sentinel
Cloud-native architecture that scales up or down in line with data volume—with no re-architecture required—provides flexibility many on-prem SIEMs don’t. Integrations with the Microsoft ecosystem, cloud providers, and third-party security tools expand the value of coverage and analysis.
- Cloud-Native Architecture: Sentinel is built on the Azure cloud. This eliminates the need for managing on-premise hardware, software, and updates, reducing the operational overhead and capital expenditure.
- Scalability and Elasticity: As a cloud service, Sentinel can easily scale up or down as your needs change. It can handle massive volumes of data from various sources without requiring re-architecture, which is a major advantage over legacy systems.
- Deep Integration with the Microsoft Ecosystem: For businesses using Microsoft 365, Azure, and Microsoft Defender, Sentinel offers seamless, native integration. This simplifies data collection, provides a unified view of your security posture across the Microsoft stack, and leverages Microsoft's vast threat intelligence.
- Broad Data Collection: Sentinel offers a wide range of built-in connectors for Microsoft services, other cloud providers (AWS, GCP), and a multitude of third-party security tools.
Three Benefits of Sentinel Your Team Will Appreciate
AI analysis, process-driven automation, and unified visibility are three benefits that help to relieve your team from the repetitive, lower value tasks that monopolize their time and detecting threats that an overburdened security team may miss.
- AI and Machine Learning: Sentinel uses AI and machine learning to analyze security data, reduce alert fatigue by grouping alerts into incidents, and detect threats traditional rule-based systems may miss. It also has User and Entity Behavior Analytics (UEBA) capabilities to identify anomalous activities.
- Built-in SOAR Capabilities: With its integration with Azure Logic Apps, Sentinel provides robust automation and orchestration features. This allows security teams to create "playbooks" to automate routine tasks like incident triage and remediation.
- Unified Visibility: It provides a "single pane of glass" view by consolidating security data from across your entire infrastructure, including on-premise and multi-cloud environments, as well as third-party solutions.
Partner with an MSSP to Smooth the Path to a Successful Migration
Migrating from an on-prem SIEM to a modern, cloud-native SIEM, like Sentinel, is a complex project. Partnering with an MSSP can significantly ease the complexity involved in migration by bringing the specialized expertise and resources that many internal teams may lack. Having a partner that hits the ground running due to their knowledge of Sentinel means less learning curve for your team and faster time to value.
Four Ways an MSSP Helps You Simplify the Migration Process
- Expert Planning and Execution: An MSSP with experience in legacy SIEMs and Sentinel can create a precise migration plan, ensuring the correct transition of all critical data, rules, and reports, including customizations. They handle the technical heavy lifting, from initial data ingestion to configuring connectors and tuning the platform.
- Customization and Optimization: An MSSP with proficiency in Sentinel can tailor the system to your specific environment and security needs. They know how to optimize data collection based on your business context. Experience with the Microsoft ecosystem enables them to balance security requirements with cost, resulting in higher efficiency and return on investment (ROI). Their skill in building custom analytics rules and dashboards that align with your business risks increases your visibility and provides insights to help you strengthen your security posture.
- Reduced Burden on Internal Teams: An MSSP lessens the time burden of migration for your internal security team. This allows them to focus on day-to-day security operations without interruption, while providing the context and background information needed to ensure the deployment of Sentinel as an asset in your security tech stack—from day one.
- Ongoing Management: After migration, an MSSP can continue to manage Sentinel, including 24/7 monitoring, incident response, and continuous tuning. This ensures you get full value from the platform without needing to hire and train a new team. Working as an extension of your team, their collaboration will help your existing team gain proficiency where needed. And their guidance and recommendations may bring additional optimization and effectiveness to your security operations.
Simplify the Complexity of SIEM Migration with an MSSP
Rather than spending time to upskill your internal team, an MSSP’s experience allows them to deploy and configure Sentinel much faster. They’ll collaborate with your team to incorporate your business context and risk appetite from the start.
An MSSP brings expertise in threat hunting. They can write more sophisticated detection rules and use advanced techniques to identify threats that standard configuration might miss. With dedicated analysts and well-defined playbooks, an MSSP can provide faster, more effective incident response to minimize the impact of security incidents.
With a clear understanding of Sentinel’s pricing model, an experienced MSSP can help you optimize data ingestion to control costs.
Accelerated time to value, improved threat hunting and response, and cost control. Three solid outcomes a solid MSSP partnership brings that increase the value of your migration to Sentinel.
