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What it really takes to build a SOC in India, ETCISO
A recent study on Security Operations Center (SOC) planning shows that while many organizations are preparing to build SOCs, their budget expectations, timelines and operational challenges vary widely.
The survey, conducted among senior IT security professionals and managers from organizations with 500 or more employees across 16 countries, focused on companies that do not yet have a SOC but plan to establish one.
Globally, the average planned budget for setting up a SOC is about $2 million. In India, however, 91% of organizations said they plan budgets below $1 million, while the rest indicated budgets ranging from above $1 million to as much as $5 million. The study says the average allocation in India stands at $3.5 million.
The findings also suggest that SOC spending is often linked to company size and the level of outsourcing involved. Smaller firms tend to plan lower investments, while larger organizations are more likely to budget for more expensive SOC projects due to broader infrastructure coverage and greater operational demands.
On timelines, two-thirds of Indian organizations said they expect to build their SOC within six to 12 months, while 31% anticipate projects lasting up to two years.
The study found that Indian organizations see multiple challenges in building a SOC rather than one single obstacle. The most frequently cited issue was measuring SOC effectiveness, mentioned by 35% of respondents. This includes defining KPIs such as return on investment, mean time to detect, mean time to respond and compliance outcomes.
Other major challenges included high capital costs, lack of a clear action plan, integration of multiple tools and systems, difficulty establishing internal processes, and managing complex security technologies. Human resource constraints were also significant, with respondents pointing to a shortage of external talent and limited expertise among existing employees.
Overall, the findings suggest that building a SOC is increasingly seen not just as a technology investment, but as a broader operational challenge involving budget discipline, measurable outcomes, integration, process maturity and skilled talent.
