EDR price comparison is not the best criteria to use when selecting your Managed Service’s newest cybersecurity partner. The promise to ‘cut the cost of a single salary’ overlooks the fact that AI and machine learning still require human supervision.
EDR Price Comparison Myths
In our conversations with partners, the team at CYDEF has heard one story time and again: vendors leverage EDR Price Comparison and oversell the cost savings associated with solutions. Once the tool is ready to deploy, our partners realize the scale of the deployment requires more knowledge and human resources than they anticipated.
To better prepare our managed service partners to make informed decisions about costs and workload, we did some research on the common myths of the EDR sales process.
Myth #1: EDR Solutions Will Save Your Business the Cost of Salary
Many Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) vendors state that their software is likely to save your managed service business at least one salary.
That may be true, under certain conditions. Those conditions might include the size and scale of business and the on-staff technical knowledge, among other factors.
The reality is: an EDR solution may also add the cost of salary to your business.
While EDR enabled with Machine Learning and AI can cover a lot of bases a human threat hunter cannot, these solutions don’t operate independently. Solution oversight and supervision must come from trained humans. These humans review alerts, conduct analysis and research, and recommend reparations.
EDR management also requires multiple trained personnel. In case the primary point of contact is unavailable, a secondary point of contact must also be trained to manage and oversee the EDR solution.
AI or machine learning powered EDR solutions can offer a valuable and necessary service to managed service clients. But make no mistake: solution management requires human power – and multiple salaries.
Myth #2: Solutions Reduce Alert Fatigue
Smart solutions that rely on AI and machine learning are immensely effective at detecting breaches and potential threats. Not all EDR solutions, however, are created equal. Some rely heavily on alerts, which require thorough oversight.
At a certain point, the human resources responsible for Alert oversight may grow fatigued. A highly sensitive solution may trigger a lot of alerts. The volume of alerts can exhaust the humans who oversee the alerts, desensitizing them to the severity of the alerts. At some point, alert fatigue can turn to consciously ignoring alerts; the volume of alerts becomes more of a burden than a help.
The issue of alert fatigued is often passed on to managed service clients. When the volume of alerts is too high, service providers often ship their clients an astounding number of false positives. That’s a catch-22; your clients outsource IT management so they can focus on what they do best. When they are occupied verifying alerts, your relationship suffers.
Myth #3: Costs Reduce with Automated Tools
EDR price comparison is often diluted, addressing only the price of the endpoint security tools.
Cybersecurity that relies on automation reduces the labor involved in threat hunting. The automated element offers precision and greater peace of mind.
However, automated tools that rely on machine learning and AI still come at a cost. These costs are often overlooked in pricing conversations. In planning a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy for clients, managed service providers must consider technology costs, staffing, resource allocation, and operational costs.
Technology costs for the overall cybersecurity project will consider a layered approach to security, including the number of devices under management, antivirus solution cost and EDR cost.
Staffing costs will include the number of people required to manage the technology and the time anticipated to manage the project.
Resource allocation will include management of all solutions, incident management and related updating/patching activities.
Operational costs will include solutions management, incident management, false positive management and other incidental overhead costs.
None of these costs are optional; they ensure the success of a cybersecurity approach.
Myth #4: EDR Replaces AV
There’s a common misperception that AV is irrelevant once an EDR solution is in place. That overlooks the role of an anti-virus tool as a front line of defense, detecting the known threats as they enter an organization.
EDR works collaboratively with these front lines of defense to detect more advanced threats, cloaked as something less harmful.
So, the cost associated with protecting an organization from a cyber threat grows from first line of defense to a more embedded practice of tracking down sneaky threats.
The Missing EDR Price Comparison Factor
Information provider by security vendors and the internet alike suggests that life is simplified with machine learning and AI based cybersecurity tools.
Certainly, detection and response is made easier with automation. But do these tools reduce costs associated with protection? The factual answer is: No. They do not.
In order to conduct a thorough EDR Price Comparison, MSPs should consider total cost of ownership. This equation provides a comprehensive view of solution cost and associated operational costs.
Total cost of ownership answers the important question: does your managed service business have the time and capacity to operate the tool?
To learn more about CYDEF’s Total Cost of Ownership contact our team today. Our proprietary calculator provides MSPs with the answer they need to make sustainable business decisions.
