Alexis Kestler
Hey there! As security operations and incident response teams, I know you’re looking to enhance efficiency and resilience. A Security Orchestration, Automation and Response (SOAR) platform can be a game-changer, allowing you to connect disparate tools, standardize processes, reduce manualrepetitive work, and accelerate threat detection and response.
But with so many vendors offering SOAR solutions, how do you pick the right one for your needs? I‘ve evaluated some of the top platforms out there, and put together this detailed guide to help you find the ideal SOAR tool for your unique requirements.
Why SOAR Matters
Before diving into the solutions, it‘s worth understanding what SOAR does and why it‘s becoming essential.
SOAR platforms act as a connective layer that breaks down silos between the security tools in your stack. This allows seamless interaction and coordination between products like SIEMs, firewalls, IDS/IPS, EDR, vulnerability scanners, and ticketing systems.
Key capabilities provided by SOAR include:
- Orchestration – Connecting disjointed systems and teams for unified workflows.
- Automation – Removing repetitive manual work through scripts and playbooks.
- Incident Response – Standardizing and automating response with predefined playbooks.
- Enrichment – Augmenting alerts with intel from threat feeds and external sources.
- Reporting – Providing metrics on analyst activity, mean time to actions, incident trends etc.
According to a survey by ESG, the top motivations to adopt SOAR are to accelerate incident response, reduce manual errors, and increase productivity.
Based on my experience, here are some of the major benefits you can expect:
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60-90% faster incident response – Automation reduces triage and investigation time significantly. MITRE found that SOAR reduced time to mitigate threats by 60-90% for various organizations.
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Less Analyst Fatigue – Tedious tasks like ticket creation, status updates, intel enrichment etc. are automated, allowing analysts to focus on high-value analysis.
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Fewer Errors – Predefined playbooks embed institutional knowledge and minimize manual misconfigurations.
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Improved Metrics – Detailed reports provide visibility into team effectiveness, incident trends, and areas needing improvement.
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Quick ROI – According to Forrester, SOAR solutions deliver full ROI within 6 months for most organizations by reducing headcount needs and operational costs.
Comparison of Top SOAR Platforms
Now that you understand the value SOAR brings to the table, let‘s evaluate some of the top vendors in this space:
Splunk Phantom
Splunk Phantom is one of the most widely used enterprise SOAR platforms. It was acquired by analytics giant Splunk in 2018 and deeply integrated with Splunk‘s SIEM, orchestration and automation capabilities.
Key Strengths:
- Visually builds workflows with drag-and-drop playbook editor
- Has one of the largest libraries of 450+ prebuilt playbooks, integrations and product connectors
- Generates documentation automatically for playbooks
- Built-in collaboration features like activity streams, chat and task assignment
- Real-time dashboard of security activity and analyst productivity
Use Cases: Complex security orchestration, automation and streamlined incident response for large organizations.
Downsides: The premium pricing may be prohibitive for smaller teams. Also, the interface has a learning curve for non-technical users.
Pricing: Premium tier starts at $75 per user/month.
Ideal Customer: Large enterprises with extensive security infrastructure looking to optimize SOC operations.
IBM Resilient
IBM Resilient (formerly IBM QRadar Incident Forensics) is an on-premise or SaaS SOAR platform focused on automation, intelligence and collaboration.
Key Strengths:
- Dynamic incident response playbooks using NLP and MITRE framework
- Extensive ecosystem of SIM app integrations with security tools
- Customizable live dashboards with detailed security metrics
- Robust case management and collaboration features
- Built-in cyber range for incident response simulations and training
Use Cases: Security automation, proactive threat hunting, efficient incident management and post-breach forensic investigations.
Downsides: As an enterprise-focused solution, IBM Resilient has a complex interface and significant learning curve.
Pricing: Provides customized quote-based pricing.
Ideal Customer: Highly regulated large enterprises across industries like finance and healthcare.
DFLabs IncMan SOAR
DFLabs IncMan SOAR focuses on automated detection, response and remediation of threats leveraging AI and ML capabilities.
Key Strengths:
- Over 250 native integrations with leading security tools
- MITRE ATT&CK framework based automation playbooks
- Detailed incident reporting with advanced interactive dashboards
- Flexible deployment options as on-premise, cloud or MSSP
- Automated containment of threats across endpoints and networks
Use Cases: Incident response, threat hunting, automated containment and remediation.
Downsides: Primarily targeted at MSSPs and IR teams. Lacks some of the broader security orchestration capabilities.
Pricing: Starts at $1,500 per month. Enterprise pricing customized.
Ideal Customer: MSSPs, incident response and forensic investigation teams.
Rapid7 InsightConnect
Rapid7 InsightConnect provides easy no-code automation for security operations and incident response.
Key Strengths:
- Drag-and-drop designer to build workflows visually
- Library of 850+ pre-built actions, apps and playbooks
- Bi-directional sync with popular platforms like JIRA, Slack
- Live activity dashboard showing automation usage and analyst actions
- REST APIs and webhook support to connect custom actions and tools
Use Cases: Security automation, orchestration, response and DevSecOps use cases.
Downsides: Less sophisticated compared to other enterprise SOAR tools.
Pricing: Starts at $30 per user/month.
Ideal Customer: Lean security teams looking for simple, affordable SOAR capabilities.
LogRhythm RespondX
LogRhythm RespondX allows automation of threat detection and response workflows based on data from LogRhythm‘s SIEM and NDR tools.
Key Strengths:
- Tight integration with LogRhythm SIEM and endpoint detection capabilities
- AI-driven investigation and reporting of suspicious activity
- SmartResponse actions to automatically isolate threats
- Collaborative case management for assignments and notes
- Library of over 250 third-party integrations
Use Cases: Automated security incident response driven by analytics and alarms from LogRhythm platform.
Downsides: Requires LogRhythm tools to realize full value.
Pricing: Provides customized quote-based pricing.
Ideal Customer: Organizations using LogRhythm SIEM and/or Network Detection and Response tools.
Exabeam Advanced Analytics
Exabeam Advanced Analytics combines user and entity behavior analytics (UEBA) with automated incident response.
Key Strengths:
- Anomaly detection based on risk scoring and behavioral modeling
- Library of prebuilt incident response playbooks
- Detailed timelines of security events and entity behavior
- Automated alert enrichment and triage to reduce noise
- Customizable dashboard with metrics on SOC performance
Use Cases: UEBA-driven threat detection and automated investigation/response.
Downsides: More oriented towards UEBA rather than end-to-end orchestration.
Pricing: Starts at $50 per user/month based on customized quote.
Ideal Customer: Organizations looking to leverage UEBA for advanced threat detection and automated response.
ServiceNow Security Operations
ServiceNow Security Operations integrates security orchestration and automation capabilities into the ServiceNow ITSM platform.
Key Strengths:
- Library of prebuilt connectors with leading security technologies
- Automated response through workflow automation
- Unified view of security incidents, vulnerabilities and threat intelligence
- Visibility via dashboards, reports and risk metrics
- Seamlessly integrates with broader ServiceNow ITSM platform
Use Cases: Security automation leveraging existing ServiceNow ITSM investments.
Downsides: More limited functionality compared to pure-play SOAR solutions.
Pricing: Premium tier starts at $175 per user/month based on customized quote.
Ideal Customer: Organizations using ServiceNow for IT service management.
Swimlane
Swimlane provides a simple, flexible on-premise or SaaS SOAR platform designed for ease of use.
Key Strengths:
- Intuitive drag-and-drop playbook builder requiring no coding
- Library of 350+ prebuilt integrations, playbooks and templates
- Advanced automation engine with conditional logic and flexibility
- Unified platform for alerts, cases, collaboration and reporting
- Customizable dashboards and BI analytics
Use Cases: No-code security automation and streamlined incident response workflows.
Downsides: Younger company so trail behind others in market penetration and name recognition.
Pricing: Starts at $55 per user/month.
Ideal Customer: Mid-size organizations looking for intuitive, lightweight SOAR.
Key Evaluation Criteria
As you assess these solutions, here are some key aspects to analyze:
- Ease of use – Intuitive interfaces and workflow builders speed up adoption.
- Deployment model – SaaS, on-premise, hybrid options to suit your needs.
- Integrations – Review availability of pre-built connectors vs API support for custom ones.
- Playbooks – Prepackaged playbooks accelerate response but may lack customization.
- Scalability – Ensure the solution can scale across your data, tools, and use cases.
- Reporting – Dashboards and metrics are crucial to measure productivity, SLAs and trends.
- AI capabilities– Critical for auto enrichment and reducing false positives.
- Customer support – Check reviews and talk to users about quality of customer service.
- Pricing – Requires cost/benefit analysis across tiers and number of users.
- Vendor health – Assess product roadmap, financial strength and market momentum.
Make sure to align your SOAR selection to both current and future operational objectives, infrastructure, in-house expertise, and budget.
The Right SOAR for You
SOAR platforms have quickly become a must-have technology for modern security teams looking to improve efficiency, consistency, visibility and response times.
Vendors have emerged to serve customers across the spectrum – from enterprise SOCs to MSSPs and lean security teams. Splunk, IBM and DFLabs cater to complex environments, while Rapid7, Swimlane and others fill the need for simplified affordable SOAR.
Carefully evaluate solution capabilities against your organization‘s requirements and maturity. Establish clear metrics for assessing business impact. With the right platform, you can transform cumbersome manual security processes into orchestrated, automated workflows.
I hope this guide provides a starting point to identify the ideal SOAR partner to accelerate your operations! Let me know if you need any other inputs as you evaluate options. Happy to help you succeed on your automation journey.
