Today we continue our series we started recently (part 1 is here about finding a super SIEM for SMBs. Specifically I have some updates on (and frustrations with) Arctic Wolf, Elastic, Milton Security and Perch Security.

Here's the TLDL version:

Arctic Wolf They remain a strong contender in my bake-offs. They also could tick several boxes for an org as they offer continuous internal/external vulnerability scanning as well as a managed SOC. (And yes, I'm probably a tiny bit biased because I know a bunch of AWN's engineers and like the product)

Elastic I've loved my interactions with the sales folks and engineers at Elastic. My initial trial had some technical speed bumps (which Elastic helped me remedy). I eventually did get some Elastic agents enrolled on endpoints in my lab. However, now that I'm up and running (and admittedly I should go through the Webinars and online training), I'm feeling overwhelmed. There's a jillion menus and submenus to explore. I feel like I've been given a high-performance sports car but completely lack the knowledge on how to make the most of it. I'll keep Elastic in my back pocket, but I don't think I can feel comfortable handing this dashboard over to a SMB IT/security staff and have them run with it.

Milton Security A few weeks ago I had my first ever sales call with this group, and liked a lot of what I heard. They're up front about being a threat-hunt-as-a-service organization and they're not looking to partner with just any customer. The way they bundle sources of data (for the sake of pricing) makes sense to me, and although I haven't seen a formal quote from them yet, I think they will be reasonably priced when compared to some of the "big box" solutions.

Perch Security After part 1 of this series, several of you pinged me and said to check out Perch Security. I'm very excited to connect with them but had a tough time getting someone to respond to my inquires (two weeks to be exact). Good news is I've got a call scheduled with them this week and am anxious to share what I learn about Perch on our next episode in this series.