The shortage of specialised cyber security talent is accelerating demand for the security operations centres as a service market. Operating an effective security operations centre requires experienced analysts, threat hunters, incident responders, and specialists capable of interpreting complex security events. ISC2’s 2025 Cybersecurity Workforce Study found that 59% of respondents reported critical or significant skills gaps within their teams, highlighting capability gaps beyond staffing numbers alone. Outsourced SOC services enable organisations to access specialised expertise and round-the-clock monitoring without independently recruiting and retaining every required security professional.

Managed SIEM & log management segment expected to hold largest share

The managed SIEM & log management segment is expected to hold the largest share of the SOCaaS market over the forecast period, driven by organisations’ need to centralise security logs, correlate events across IT environments, and detect suspicious activity in real time. Rising cloud adoption, distributed infrastructure, and growing security data volumes are increasing demand for continuous log collection, analysis, retention, and threat monitoring. CISA’s 2025 guidance on SIEM and SOAR implementation emphasises prioritised log ingestion and improved visibility to strengthen threat detection and incident response. Managed services let organisations access these capabilities without managing complex platforms or specialised personnel.

SMEs to show highest growth

By organisation size, the SMEs segment is expected to post the highest CAGR in the SOCaaS market over the forecast period, driven by rising cyber threats, limited in-house expertise, and budget constraints that make maintaining dedicated security operations centers difficult. SOCaaS provides SMEs with scalable access to 24/7 threat monitoring, incident investigation, and response without substantial infrastructure investments. The UK Government’s 2025-2026 Cyber Security Breaches Survey found that 64% of small businesses and 70% of medium-sized businesses used external cybersecurity providers, underscoring reliance on outsourced expertise. Growing cloud adoption and demand for cost-efficient protection are expected to further drive adoption.

By region - North America is the strongest

North America is expected to account for the largest share of the SOCaaS market over the forecast period, supported by high cybersecurity spending, an established security vendor ecosystem, and growing demand for continuous threat monitoring and incident response. Organisations across the US and Canada are strengthening security operations to address ransomware, identity compromise, cloud-related threats, and increasingly sophisticated cyber attacks. The region's widespread adoption of cloud services, distributed enterprise infrastructure, and digital business applications is increasing the need for centralised visibility and coordinated security management. SOCaaS enables organisations to access specialised analysts, advanced detection technologies, and round-the-clock protection without maintaining extensive in-house security operations.

In Canada, the 2025 National Cyber Security Strategy emphasises stronger threat detection, intelligence sharing, and coordinated action against cyber threat actors, including through the Canadian Cyber Defence Collective. The Canadian Centre for Cyber Security also provides guidance for organisations considering SOCaaS subscriptions, highlighting outsourced monitoring as an option for those with limited resources. These initiatives, together with demand for managed security expertise and continuous protection, support adoption across North American enterprises and public-sector organisations.

Some key players

Companies involved in this sector and mentioned by the research including organisations such as Thales, Airbus Cybersecurity, Fortinet, Cloudflare, NTT Data, Check Point Software, Arctic Wolf Networks, Clearnetwork, Foresite Cybersecurity, Enhanced.io, Eventus Security, and Sophos amongst others.