India firms boost outsourced cybersecurity amid talent gap
UTTAR PRADESH, INDIA — Indian companies are rapidly increasing their reliance on outsourced cybersecurity services as a persistent global talent shortage and rising cyber threats make in-house security operations harder to sustain, industry experts said.
According to a report from Economic Times, what began as a temporary response to staffing gaps is now evolving into a long-term strategy, particularly among mid-sized firms that lack the resources to build and maintain full-scale security operations centers (SOCs).
As cyber risks grow more complex, companies are turning to external providers for round-the-clock protection and advanced threat detection.
Rising demand for SOC-as-a-service in India
The shift toward outsourced cybersecurity—especially SOC-as-a-service—is accelerating faster in India than in many global markets.
“About half of the organisations we are seeing are considering outsourcing their security operations [center] (SOC) functions,” said Adrian Hia, APAC head at cybersecurity firm Kaspersky.
Experts note that Indian enterprises are no longer treating outsourcing as a stopgap.
“Indian enterprises are increasingly making a deliberate choice to adopt SOC-as-a-service rather than treating it as a temporary response to talent shortages,” said Biswajeet Patra, senior principal analyst at Forrester.
India accounted for about 5–6% of global SOC-as-a-service revenue in 2025, with growth projected at up to 20% annually—significantly outpacing the global average of 10–12%.
Patra added that “running an in-house SOC requires significant upfront and ongoing investment in tools, staff, and round-the-clock operations,” making outsourced models more attractive due to their subscription-based structure and shared technology platforms.
BFSI sector leads cybersecurity outsourcing trend
Adoption is particularly strong in sectors such as banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), telecom, and IT services, where regulatory demands and constant digital operations heighten exposure to cyberattacks.
“Around 80-85% of organisations in BFSI are outsourcing at least some cybersecurity functions,” said Tanuj Gulani, president at Prudent Insurance Brokers.
These services often include vulnerability assessment and penetration testing (VAPT), red teaming, threat intelligence, and SOC monitoring.
Still, most companies retain some control. Gulani noted that many firms operate hybrid models, adding that “in BFSI, VAPT is outsourced by as many as 90 to 95% of firms, while SOC outsourcing stands at around 80-85%.”
The increasing sophistication of cyber threats, combined with a shortage of skilled professionals, is further driving this shift.
“The talent shortage is global, and it is being compounded by how quickly the threat landscape is evolving,” said Juraj Jasonik, AI head at ESET.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is also reshaping the sector. “AI is changing SOC economics by automating alert triage, correlation, and initial investigation,” Patra said.
As outsourcing providers scale AI-driven capabilities across multiple clients, they are gaining a competitive edge over in-house teams.
The trend underscores a broader transformation in the global outsourcing industry, where cybersecurity is emerging as a critical, high-growth service line—positioning providers not just as cost-saving partners, but as essential players in enterprise risk management.
