# Six Ways to Lower SOC Operating Costs

TandemTrace reduces the human and managed-service work above existing security controls. Customers keep the endpoint, identity, network, cloud, email and data systems they trust while automating the investigation layer that makes those systems expensive to operate.

## Six savings levers

1. **Reduce Tier 1 workload and avoid new headcount.** Automate alert intake, enrichment, investigation, verdicts, documentation and routine escalation. Avoid hiring as volume grows, reduce night/weekend Tier 1 requirements and move analysts to higher-value work.
2. **Remove or shrink SOAR.** Replace traditional SOAR triage and investigation while existing controls execute approved actions. Reduce licensing, implementation, specialist playbook maintenance and usage overages.
3. **Unbundle premium XDR and MDR layers.** Keep endpoint prevention, telemetry and response controls while replacing premium managed investigation, hunting and triage.
4. **Reduce overlapping managed services.** Use one investigation layer across EDR, SIEM, cloud, email and identity rather than paying each provider to analyze only its own slice.
5. **Consolidate the analyst workflow.** Reduce dashboard switching, copy-and-paste work, duplicated cases, manual reports and workflow maintenance.
6. **Lower the cost of missed coverage.** Provide continuous triage and hunting without relying on three fully staffed shifts.

## What stays

Human analysts retain authority over ambiguity, incident command and consequential response. EDR, IAM, email, firewall, ITSM and other trusted systems remain the action and system-of-record layers.

## Proof required

A defensible business case measures analyst minutes saved, autonomous triage coverage, external escalations avoided, contracts or service scopes changed, and three-year total cost of ownership. Savings depend on integrations, permissions, data quality, workload, policy and the approved operating model.