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EFROS MDR vs. in-house SOC.

A real 24/7 in-house SOC is expensive to build and harder to keep staffed than most CFOs expect. We see the actual numbers because clients come to us after running the math themselves. Here's what those engagements actually look like, compared with EFROS MDR. No marketing math, just what shows up in real budgets.

By Stefan Efros, CEO & Founder, EFROS

Updated · May 17, 2026

The cost side of the ledger

Cost category	In-house 24/7 SOC	EFROS MDR
People (loaded cost, 24/7 coverage)	8-10 analysts × $140K-$180K loaded = $1.2M-$1.8M/yr. Plus SOC manager + IR lead: $300K+	Included in monthly fee
SIEM / XDR platform licensing	$200K-$800K/yr depending on data volume and vendor	Included, or we co-manage your existing licenses
EDR / endpoint platform	$40-$80 per endpoint/yr × 1,000-10,000 endpoints	Included (or bring your own)
Threat intelligence feeds	$100K-$300K/yr for commercial feeds	Included
Ongoing training & certifications	$15K-$25K per analyst/yr	Our problem
Turnover cost (avg SOC analyst tenure: 18-24 months)	$80K-$120K per replacement (recruiting, ramp, lost productivity)	Our problem
24/7 coverage reality	Realistically requires 10+ FTEs to cover shifts, leave, training, and attrition without gaps	Senior analysts on rotation, named after-hours coverage, no gaps

Typical all-in comparison

For a mid-market organization (1,000-5,000 endpoints, 500-2,500 employees) running a mature 24/7 in-house SOC:

In-house 24/7 SOC, all-in TCO$2.2M - $3.8M / yr
EFROS MDR equivalent~15-25% of in-house
Time to full coverage12-18 mo vs. 6-8 wk

The capability side of the ledger

Capability	In-house	EFROS MDR
Time to first detection coverage	6-18 months to build out	2-4 weeks
MTTD	Depends entirely on your staff's ability and tooling maturity	Contracted MTTD target in the service agreement
MTTC	Requires pre-authorized playbooks + tooling integration	Contracted MTTC target with pre-authorized containment
Detection content / threat intel	Build yourself or buy separately	Custom content tuned weekly, aligned to MITRE ATT&CK
Threat hunting	Only if you can staff Tier 3	Weekly, hypothesis-driven, mapped to MITRE
Regulator / auditor readiness	You build the evidence pipeline	Continuous evidence collection built in
AI governance overlay	Build a separate AI governance function, or accept shadow-IT AI in the gaps	AI Governance is a specialized program — NIST AI RMF, Colorado AI Act, ISO/IEC 42001 mapped, audit-trail integrated

When in-house makes sense

You have > 25,000 employees and a mature security org
Your business model depends on proprietary threat intel (defense, intel community)
You operate in a regulatory regime that prohibits third-party access
You already have a functioning SOC and are asking about marginal expansion