Microsoft Sentinel as Azure SIEM - Benefits & Costs

Microsoft Sentinel protects the entire IT of SMEs and corporations as a SIEM SOAR solution in Azure with Defender XDR. As an all-in-one security tool, Sentinel provides relief for IT teams – if implemented correctly: the Microsoft SIEM reduces false alarms and routine tasks, SecOps saves time. The costs of the cloud SIEM are calculated according to data consumption. But there are also disadvantages. In this article, you can find out everything you need to know about Microsoft Sentinel, integration with other Microsoft platforms and all the benefits of the solution:

• All-in-one security for SMEs & corporations: Microsoft Sentinel in Azure protects your entire IT as a SIEM SOAR solution with Defender XDR.
• Reduces the workload of IT teams when implemented correctly: automation and AI in Microsoft SIEM reduce routine tasks, SecOps save time.
• Sentinel costs based on data consumption: The cloud SIEM offers flexible pricing and scalability.

Microsoft Sentinel (formerly Azure Sentinel) helps when corporate IT is drowning in a flood of security alerts: How can false alarms be distinguished from real threats? Which dangers should be addressed first and what is the best way to defend your own systems against modern attackers?

The answer is a smart combination of powerful security tools – a SIEM (Security Information Event Management) data collection, automatic analysis and reaction (Security Orchestration Automation Management) and a strong platform for combating threats.

Microsoft Sentinel combines SIEM and SOAR in a central, cloud-native security platform: In combination with Microsoft Defender XDR (formerly Microsoft 365 Defender), Sentinel bundles the complete security architecture of companies in the Azure cloud. From SIEM monitoring to active threat defense, everything is managed under one roof – system admins manage everything from a single console.

On the one hand, this benefits medium-sized companies that use Microsoft Sentinel to close gaps in their IT security that threaten their existence – reliably and even with a limited budget, for example through a Managed Sentinel Service.

And on the other hand, it saves resources for companies with complex IT environments whose security suffers from a confusing number of solutions that are expensive and time-consuming to manage. Instead of having to pay for and manage countless security tools at the same time, IT departments can significantly reduce costs and effort with the “Azure SIEM” Microsoft Sentinel including Defender XDR – and at the same time significantly increase their IT security.

Reduce spending but increase security – and that works?
Yes, and not just by reducing costly IT outages and data leaks (which cost German companies an average of 4.3 million euros per incident). In fact, the Microsoft SIEM is a prime example: Traditional SIEM solutions simply collect log data and hand it over to a variety of other tools, such as an endpoint detection and response solution. This fragmented approach has consequences:

• In addition to the SIEM, numerous security tools and dashboards have to be integrated, maintained and monitored at a high level.
• Costs for licenses and on-premise operation in your own IT infrastructure are getting out of hand.
• Data storage and processing is spread across multiple locations, tools and manufacturers. This increases security risks, and not just from a CISO perspective.

Microsoft Sentinel, on the other hand, enables a more comprehensive security solution for the cloud era by seamlessly connecting with the in-house SOAR and Defender platform. The advantages:

• A security platform with predictable costs per gigabyte: The cloud technology offers a flexible and scalable SIEM and SOAR solution – billed according to data consumption.
• Automated log analytics and response through integrated security orchestration, automation and response with Defender XDR based on AI and automation for fast threat response and simplified security management.
• Native integration into the Microsoft ecosystem, including Defender, Microsoft Azure, Azure Firewall and Microsoft 365 with Exchange, SharePoint, OneDrive, Teams & Co.
• With Security Copilot, Microsoft’s SIEM SOAR XDR platform will benefit from artificial intelligence in the future.

To illustrate the benefits of integrating Microsoft Sentinel with Defender XDR, Microsoft commissioned a cost calculation study from the renowned IT market researchers at Forrester 2022 – published under the unwieldy title: “The Total Economic Impact Of Microsoft SIEM And XDR, Cost Savings And Business Benefits Enabled By Microsoft SIEM and XDR“.

The results are impressive: According to these, the Microsoft SIEM-XDR combination from the Azure cloud (consisting of Microsoft Sentinel and Microsoft 365 Defender / Defender for Cloud) offers significant financial and operational advantages:

• In the Forrester calculation, Microsoft Sentinel reduced threat investigation time by 65% and response time by 88%.
• The time to create a new Sentinel workbook accelerated by 90%.
• The training time for new security specialists was reduced by 91%.
• The risk of a relevant security incident was reduced by 60%, which, according to Forrester, corresponds to an annual saving of 1.6 million US dollars for the reference company used for the calculation.
• A strong increase in the productivity of all employees, for example through reduced IT downtime (in the reference company in the study with 8,000 employees, almost 68,000 hours were saved annually).
• Savings of almost 1.6 million US dollars annually through vendor consolidation and reduction of existing SIEM, EDR and SOAR tools.
• Other benefits include improved visibility, compliance and better IT asset management.

Over three years, the return on investment was 207 percent and the total net gain was nearly $12 million (due to cost savings with consolidated Microsoft SIEM/Sentinel and XDR fees, faster deployment and integration, time saved on training and ongoing management, data leak prevention and faster remediation, etc.).

The word “orchestration” in a SIEM/SOAR is no surprise: in an orchestra, many different instruments work together in harmony to create an impressive musical composition. Orchestration in IT security is similar: Sentinel coordinates the data from a SIEM, reacts to it automatically via SOAR and immediately eliminates the threat via Defender. Each tool knows its part and takes action at the right time. And this works as follows:

– Centralized data collection: Sentinel uses SIEM functions to aggregate all data (not just security data) from a variety of sources – from endpoints and cloud services to application log files. For example, the Microsoft SIEM monitors login data across different platforms in order to detect unusual access attempts that could indicate credential stuffing at an early stage.

– AI-based detection algorithms: By incorporating Defender XDR, the Sentinel SIEM benefits from advanced detection mechanisms based on AI and machine learning. This allows Sentinel to automatically identify and prioritize complex attack chains that could bypass traditional detection methods.

With its SOAR functionalities, Sentinel reduces the time between threat detection and response – reducing the risk and duration.

• Dynamic sentinel playbooks: The ability to automate response strategies for certain security incidents releases the SecOps team and releases hours for more important things, such as strategic security issues. Example: An automated playbook detects phishing attempts, isolates and examines the affected data without manual effort for an admin, even before ransomware can infect or cause other damage.
• Deep integrations: Tight integration with the Microsoft security ecosystem, including Defender XDR and Microsoft 365 Defender, extends monitoring and response capabilities across an organization’s entire digital environment.

The integration of Sentinel with its SIEM and SOAR functions into Microsoft’s Defender XDR creates a holistic security solution that enables real-time analysis and response.

• 360-degree 360-degree view: By linking with Defender XDR, Sentinel gains comprehensive insight into all levels of the IT environment, from endpoints to cloud applications. Examples: seamless monitoring of endpoint activity and early detection of unauthorized lateral movement within the network.
• Accelerated incident response: The combination of Sentinel and Defender XDR enables faster response times following identified threats. For example, the quarantine of affected systems is automated in order to prevent them from spreading as early as possible.

Advantage 1: Comprehensive integration and transparency

Microsoft Sentinel includes native integration with Microsoft products and at the same time offers numerous data connectors for integrating more than 180 third-party systems. This broad compatibility enables a centralized view of threats across all data assets across the entire digital ecosystem.
<br>By aggregating security data from multiple sources, Sentinel unifies the view of the security situation – enabling IT teams to identify and analyze hidden threats.

Advantage 2: Costs according to data consumption and scalability

Sentinel’s cloud-based infrastructure offers flexible pricing based on actual consumption per gigabyte. This helps to reduce the total cost of ownership. Implementing Sentinel can – following the Forrester calculation above – reduce the risk of significant security breaches by up to 60%, resulting in an ROI of 207% over three years in the example scenario. What’s more, as a cloud-native platform, Microsoft Sentinel adapts to the growth and security needs of the company.

Advantage 3: Increased efficiency for SecOps teams

More time for more important tasks: Microsoft Sentinel automates routine tasks and helps SecOps teams to focus on critical threats or strategic planning. Through in-depth analysis processes and machine learning, Sentinel also minimizes the number of false positives and thus improves the accuracy of threat detection.

More time for more important tasks: Microsoft Sentinel automates routine tasks and helps SecOps teams to focus on critical threats or strategic planning. Through in-depth analysis processes and machine learning, Sentinel also minimizes the number of false positives and thus improves the accuracy of threat detection.

Challenges & Cons with Microsoft Sentinel

Despite the advantages mentioned, the implementation of Sentinel comes with some challenges: These relate not only to technical aspects, but also to cost structures and strategic planning, which can often only be managed by experienced external service providers.

Challenge 1: Understanding the actual SIEM costs

While Microsoft Sentinel’s pricing model is based on simple data consumption (price per gigabyte processed), customers still report that pricing is difficult to calculate, especially in combination with other Microsoft licenses – a clear cost-value calculation is therefore essential.

Challenge 2: Microsoft commitment and dependency

The easy integration of Microsoft products into Sentinel can result in a dependency on native Microsoft features and pricing: Too much dependency on a single vendor can limit your flexibility when you want to switch to a different service. It is therefore important to plan the selection of security tools carefully to minimize such dependencies.

Challenge 3: Sentinel implementation and 24/7 monitoring are complex

Simply activating a Sentintel license is by no means enough: 24/7 maintenance can sometimes prove to be a major challenge, from setting up logs to integrating data sources and fine-tuning within the company – all of which requires in-depth understanding and appropriate resources. Examples:

• Collecting security signals across different environments: Microsoft Sentinel must be configured to ensure that security signal collection works as intended – across all devices, users and applications, apart from whether they are in the cloud or on-premise. This seamless monitoring is essential to effectively identify and combat threats. Depending on the degree of heterogeneity and complexity of an IT landscape, this task can become complex – and cannot be done “on the side”.
• ” False alerts” are annoying and time-consuming for security teams – especially as they delay the response to real threats that get lost in the crowd. This can have serious, costly consequences. By using AI, machine learning and Microsoft’s threat intelligence, Sentinel can minimize false positives and speed up incident investigation and response. But here too, correct implementation is key.
• Complexity of security operations: Many companies find managing your complete security more difficult than it was two years ago. In addition, 70 percent of companies see difficulties in recruiting good security staff. The combination of complex solutions and a shortage of skilled workers is causing excessive demands – and this in turn results in potential security risks.

Before deciding on Microsoft Sentinel as a core element of IT security, companies need to consider the associated costs and licensing models – logically, Microsoft’s SIEM solution must be effectively budgeted and profitable. The calculations include not only the cost of the platform itself, but also the transfer of data from on-premises and third-party cloud assets.

Sentinel’s cost structure and licenses

At first glance, Microsoft Sentinel is characterized by a clear and predictable cost structure that makes it possible to evaluate its effectiveness for companies of all sizes: As mentioned at the beginning, Sentinel prices are based on the data analyzed and stored in the Azure Monitor Log Analytics workspace.

But at second glance there are further costs:

• Azure Monitor costs: Sentinel uses Azure Monitor to collect data, with costs based on the volume and storage duration of the data. This provides a predictable cost basis depending on actual consumption.

• Costs for Azure Logic Apps: Azure Logic Apps are used to automate and create playbooks. The costs for this are based on the number of executions, which allows flexible adaptation to security requirements.

Summary

1. Integrated security architecture: Microsoft Sentinel combines SIEM and SOAR, allowing organizations to simplify their overall IT security and reduce costs. The close integration with Defender XDR enables a much faster response to security incidents.
2. Rapid response to threats: Automated analysis and AI-powered detection help eliminate malware quickly. Native integration into the Microsoft ecosystem enables rapid adaptation to new security challenges.
3. Cost control and scalability: As a cloud solution, Sentinel is easy to control in terms of costs and can be scaled quickly.
4. Innovation through AI: The future integration of AI tools such as Security Copilot promises better detection of new threats and reduces the workload of security teams.

To keep costs under control from day 1 and reduce them during operation in the long term, you should seek advice from a strong consulting and implementation partner. Such a Managed Security Service Provider can significantly reduce the costs of Microsoft Sentinel and at the same time brings a lot of experience to the table.