A security operations platform is software that connects to the security tools a company already owns, pulls all their alerts into one place, and automates the first sorting of those alerts. It lets a company's own team and an outside contractor run the same security operations centre (SOC), on the same screens.
Most companies buy security tools from many different makers over many years. One company makes the endpoint detection and response (EDR) software on the laptops. Another makes the firewall. A third makes the cloud security tools. Each tool has its own console, the screen where its alerts appear. So analysts end up switching between ten consoles to follow one attack.
The platform connects to each tool, whoever made it. It brings all their alerts into one queue. It adds context to each alert, and runs alert triage automatically. The analysts then work from that one queue. The company does not have to replace its existing tools, or its SIEM.
The platform also changes who does the work. For instance, consider a cement company in Kolkata whose own team of six analysts works from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. A contractor runs the night shift, from 9 p.m. to 9 a.m., on the same platform. When the morning shift arrives, it sees every alert the contractor handled overnight, with notes on what was done.
Because both sides use the same platform, the company can change the split later without changing tools. It can hand the whole SOC to the contractor, or take it all back. So this sits between running your own SOC and buying managed detection and response (MDR), which is a managed service run entirely by the contractor.