SOCaaS Market Set to Reach $16.68 Billion by 2031, MarketsandMarkets Says

Market size and growth outlook

MarketsandMarkets says the SOCaaS market was worth USD 8.13 billion in 2025 and USD 9.04 billion in 2026. It forecasts USD 16.68 billion by 2031, a CAGR of 13.0% for the period 2026 to 2031. The report, titled "SOC-as-a-Service (SOCaaS) Market - Global Forecast to 2031", covers market size data for the years 2020 to 2031 and runs to 350 pages, with 400 data tables and 50 figures.

According to the firm, the growing adoption of AI-based security operations is driving the market. Several segments are expected to grow faster than the whole:

• The fully managed offering segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.3%.
• The private sector segment is expected to grow at a CAGR of 13.6%.
• The managed SIEM and log management segment is expected to hold the largest share by service type.
• The SMEs segment is expected to post the highest CAGR by organization size.

North America is estimated to account for the largest regional share, at 36.8% of the market in 2026.

Talent shortages and SME demand

The report says a shortage of specialized cybersecurity talent is accelerating demand. Running an effective security operations center requires experienced analysts, threat hunters and incident responders. It cites ISC2's 2025 Cybersecurity Workforce Study, in which 59% of respondents reported critical or significant skills gaps within their teams. Outsourced SOC services let organizations obtain specialized expertise and round-the-clock monitoring without recruiting and retaining every required professional themselves.

For small and medium-sized enterprises, MarketsandMarkets cites rising cyber threats, limited in-house expertise and budget constraints that make a dedicated security operations center hard to maintain. SOCaaS gives them scalable access to 24/7 threat monitoring, incident investigation and response without substantial infrastructure investment. The report refers to the UK Government's 2025-2026 Cyber Security Breaches Survey, which found that 64% of small businesses and 70% of medium-sized businesses used external cybersecurity providers.

On managed SIEM and log management, the firm says demand comes from the need to centralize security logs, correlate events across IT environments and detect suspicious activity in real time. It adds that rising cloud adoption, distributed infrastructure and growing volumes of security data increase the need for continuous log collection, analysis and retention. It also notes CISA's 2025 guidance on SIEM and SOAR implementation, which emphasizes prioritized log ingestion and improved visibility.

North America, investment and AI-driven products

North America's lead is attributed to high cybersecurity spending, an established security vendor ecosystem and growing demand for continuous threat monitoring. Organizations in the US and Canada are strengthening security operations against ransomware, identity compromise and cloud-related threats. The report notes Canada's 2025 National Cyber Security Strategy and guidance from the Canadian Centre for Cyber Security for organizations considering SOCaaS subscriptions.

The report describes investment as increasingly focused on scaling managed security operations, expanding global delivery and integrating AI-driven detection and response. Examples it lists:

• LevelBlue completed its acquisition of Trustwave in August 2025 and of Cybereason in November 2025.
• In January 2026, LevelBlue announced a partnership with Fortra that included acquiring Fortra's Alert Logic MDR, XDR and web application firewall managed services business.
• In August 2026, LevelBlue announced a multi-million-dollar investment in a local SOC in Sydney.
• In February 2026, Arctic Wolf acquired Sevco Security to strengthen asset intelligence and exposure assessment.

On the product side, the report says the market is shifting from conventional, analyst-intensive monitoring to integrated, AI-driven and increasingly autonomous security operations. In March 2026, Fortinet introduced FortiSOC, which integrates SIEM, SOAR, threat intelligence and agentic AI capabilities. Arctic Wolf launched its Aurora Agentic SOC the same month, an AI-led service model combining automated operations with expert oversight.

What it means for buyers and vendors

The forecast, which is the research firm's own estimate, suggests continued demand for outsourced security monitoring, particularly among smaller organizations that cannot staff their own operations center. For vendors, the report points to competition around integrated platforms, automated investigations and regional delivery. It lists more than 40 companies as top players, including Thales, Airbus CyberSecurity, NTT DATA, Lumen Technologies, Fortinet, Cloudflare, Check Point Software, Arctic Wolf Networks, eSentire and Sophos.