Despite more than a decade of cloud-enabled innovation, the traditional on-premises Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) is still the backbone of many Security Operations Centers (SOCs). Enterprise security teams are using legacy SIEM technology designed for on-site infrastructure and losing out on the flexibility and multi-cloud support offered by the latest generation of SIEM solutions. 

 In many other enterprise technology contexts, this would be unthinkable. As it turns out, many cybersecurity leaders have the decision made for them. Leadership and key stakeholders are understandably hesitant to go through a challenging, complicated, and expensive process like SIEM migration unless they are compelled to do so.  

 But for many enterprise IT leaders, that time has come. Major vendor consolidations are pushing legacy SIEM users towards the next generation.  

 The good news is that there are ways to optimize the SIEM migration process. You can dramatically reduce the risk associated with SIEM migration by following these steps. 

Start with what you know 

Your organization is unique, and it has built up a complex set of security processes and characteristics over many years. That complexity is one of the reasons why you haven’t upgraded to a next-generation SIEM already. Now is the time to dive in. 

Know your environment and human capacity 

If you don’t have deep visibility into the way users interact with technology at every level of the organization, securing those interactions will prove incredibly difficult. 

Consider your team’s capacity. Determine what skills you have access to in-house and what kind of specialist expertise you’ll need to find externally. SIEM migration demands a different set of analytical skills than a SOC analyst’s typical workflow. 

Categorize your digital assets and select accordingly 

Critically, organization’s digital assets—including cloud applications and infrastructure will impact the way you approach migration. A SaaS-based SIEM deployment with ready-made integrations for your organization’s cloud infrastructure, data, and application partners and a project team capable of assisting in the migration is an option 

Alternatively, you may build your own integrations, or entrust integration to a reputable managed detection and response vendor with a fully-managed SaaS SIEM deployment. Either way, this choice should be informed by the assets that make up your environment. 

Familiarize your team with where your data resides 

Knowing where your data resides is key to managing the SIEM migration process. That’s because different SaaS-based SIEM platforms treat your data in different ways, and assess different costs accordingly. 

Entrusting your organization’s data to a SIEM platform can easily lead to vendor lock-in. Even if you maintain control over your data, you may end up paying exorbitant prices for storing it inside your SIEM. 

Fortunately, there are ways around these scenarios. You can deploy observability solutions that make low-cost log storage a feasible reality for your implementation. But to plan for streamlined data governance and storage, you first need accurate information on where your data is right now. 

Define your expectations and prepare accordingly 

Your new SIEM should do more than simply copy your legacy SIEM processes in a cloud environment. Migrating to a new platform offers opportunities to improve many different parts of your detection and response workflows.   

Security leaders who take advantage of these opportunities can make significant steps towards establishing a modern, enterprise-ready SOC. However, organizations that weigh down the process with too many new additions and innovations run the risk of SIEM migration failure. 

Set clear goals for each stage of the migration 

Migrating your SIEM to a modern next-generation platform can bring many benefits, like faster threat detection, improved compliance reporting, deeper visibility, and lower operational costs. Before you begin the migration process, you should prioritize these benefits and understand which ones are the most important for your organization. 

Once you have your goals prioritized, you can attach measurable outcomes to each phase in the migration process. This will help the entire team stay focused on a shared set of core values while navigating tough decisions throughout the process. 

Carefully review log sources and detection rules 

This is an excellent time to look through your data sources and detection methodology and consider use case basedcase-based outcomes. Keep the features and capabilities of your new SaaS-based SIEM platform in mind when considering the value of this content. 

It’s practically guaranteed that you have sources and rules that won’t drive security performance or value after the migration is complete. They may be redundant when User Entity and Behavioral Analytics (UEBA) capabilities are implemented, or they may simply be inefficient compared to more modern detection methods.  

Resist the temptation to automatically migrate all of your SIEM content directly to the new platform. Focus on streamlining your migration to include the log data you truly need according to the core values you established earlier in the process. Avoid cost inflation for services and platform with this step. 

 As for detection concepts and use case outcomes, be prepared to reproduce them inside the new platform. There may not be an easy way to convert and migrate your existing rules en masse, which means they’ll have to be rebuilt on an individual basis. This will be a time-consuming task, but it’s the kind of preparation that pays off for many years. Using a company like Lumifi for this is a way to ensure success. 

Get your SIEM migration right with Lumifi 

SIEM migrations are a complex undertaking. Unexpected issues will need to be addressed, and migration timelines may get pushed back as a result. Enterprise security teams rarely have the time, talent, and resources on-hand to successfully complete SIEM migration without additional complications. 

Lumifi specializes in SIEM migration, implementation, and fine-tuning. Our team of specialists bring deep product knowledge and experience optimizing the migration process. We help enterprise organizations maintain visibility and control over their data while establishing streamlined workflows that ensure operational security excellence. 

Discover how Lumifi can help you dramatically improve security performance and transform the SIEM migration process. Leverage our in-depth insight and customization capabilities to get the most out of your new SIEM.