Microsoft Sentinel Improvement
You’ve got Sentinel.
The alerts keep
coming.
Nobody’s
sure which ones
matter.
We review how Microsoft Sentinel collects your data, detects threats and supports investigation and response, then fix the gaps with your team. Fewer alerts, better ones, and analysts who know how to use them.
What you’ll have at the end
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Sentinel coverage and gap report, with a prioritised planMITRE ATT&CK coverage and log utilisationFor your CISO and analysts
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Tuned Sentinel analytics rules and a false-positive cut listApplied with your team, not just recommendedFor your analysts
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Sentinel incident runbooks and playbooksTested with agreed Sentinel scenariosFor whoever is on shift
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Sentinel analyst training and investigation proceduresRecorded and reusableFor new and existing analysts
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Sentinel configuration findings and fixesConnectors, rules and automationFor your platform owner
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Sentinel operational KPIs and a baseline to measure fromReportable monthlyFor your SOC lead and the board
Sound familiar?
None of this means your team is bad at their jobs. It usually means nobody has had the time to step back and look at how Sentinel is being used.
- Logs from the systems that matter most aren’t reaching Sentinel, or arrive half-empty.
- Hundreds of Sentinel alerts a day. Most get closed without anyone really looking.
- Analysts investigate the same Sentinel incident three different ways depending on who’s on shift.
- Sentinel incidents keep getting escalated, because nobody feels confident enough to close them.
- Sentinel was set up by a partner two years ago and nobody has touched the rules since.
- The last Sentinel incident took days to contain because nobody knew who could authorise the response.
Hundreds of alerts a day. Only a handful need a person.
Your team spends its time on the alerts that matter.
Alerts per day · example tenant
Most alert noise comes from analytics rules nobody has tuned since Sentinel was set up. We tune the rules, automate the known-benign and connect the data the good rules depend on, so your analysts spend their time on the incidents that need a decision.
- Analytics rules tuned to your environment
- Automation rules for known-benign alerts
- Incidents grouped with their entities
- A false-positive cut list agreed with your team
Better detection. Clearer response.
Sentinel picks up more of what matters, and everyone knows what to do next.
We look at your Sentinel data connectors, analytics rules, investigation workflows and automation. Then we agree the priorities and make the changes with your team. Every environment is different, so we work with the log sources and licences you have. The panels below are illustrative examples.
See more of what matters, with less noise.
More of the right signals reach Sentinel, with far less noise.
Sentinel can’t detect what it doesn’t receive, and your analysts can’t act on what’s buried in noise.
- Find and fix the gaps in Sentinel data connectors, log collection and data quality across the sources you rely on
- Check your analytics rules against MITRE ATT&CK and prioritise the gaps by the threats relevant to you
- Tune analytics rules and cut false positives, so analysts see fewer alerts and better ones
- Set Sentinel KPIs for detection quality, triage, response and log utilisation
Get more from Sentinel with the team you have.
Your team gets more out of the tool you already have.
Hands-on, scenario-based sessions using your Sentinel workspace and incidents. Not a slide deck.
- Practical training in incident triage, entity investigation, KQL queries and evidence analysis
- A structured way to investigate, decide and document incidents, so quality doesn’t depend on who’s on shift
- Fewer unnecessary escalations, because analysts have the knowledge and confidence to make the call
- Mentoring, knowledge transfer and Sentinel runbooks, so the capability stays after we leave
Turn Sentinel incidents into a clear response.
When something happens, everyone knows who does what.
Everyone knows who investigates, who approves an action and how it’s recorded.
- Streamline triage, investigation and escalation, so incidents move faster from alert to decision
- Automation rules and playbooks for repeatable triage, enrichment and response steps
- Clear escalation and approval paths for the actions triggered from Sentinel
- Scenario exercises using your incidents and playbooks, then fix the gaps they expose
Make Sentinel work as hard as you paid for.
Get more from what you’re already paying for in Sentinel.
Data connectors, analytics rules, automation and playbooks. Configured, connected and used by your team.
- Review workspace configuration and connector health, so you can trust the data reaching your detections
- Check analytics rules, entity mapping and incident settings for gaps and stale configuration
- Make automation rules and playbooks support your investigation and response workflows
- Simplify. Less manual triage, and a Sentinel your team can maintain
Coverage, logs and automation.
Fewer blind spots, logs that earn their keep, and less manual work.
More logs don’t automatically mean better detection. We use Microsoft Sentinel’s SOC optimization in the Microsoft Defender portal to find gaps in coverage and data that could be doing more.
Find the techniques you’re missing.
Map your active analytics rules to MITRE ATT&CK, then prioritise the gaps against the threats that matter to your business.
- Check the rules and the data together. A rule needs the right logs, arriving with the fields it depends on.
- Put existing data to work. Enable or tune relevant rules where useful logs are already collected.
- Test what should fire. A technique tag or an enabled rule isn’t proof that an attack will be caught.
Make the logs earn their keep.
Review what you ingest into Sentinel, what it costs and how it’s used by detections, hunting and investigations.
- Find low-use tables. Start from SOC optimization’s data value recommendations, then check how your team uses the logs.
- Choose the right ingestion and retention. Keep useful data, add missing sources and consider a lower-cost plan or archive where it fits.
- Check before cutting. Confirm investigation, compliance and retention needs before reducing collection.
Automate the repeatable steps.
Automation rules and playbooks handle enrichment and routine triage, so analysts start with context rather than a blank incident.
- Close the known-benign automatically, with a record of why.
- Enrich every incident with user, device and sign-in context.
- Keep people in the loop for any action that needs approval.
How it runs
Careful, tested, and handed over so your team owns it.
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FIRST
Look
Access to your Microsoft Sentinel workspace and the analysts who use it. We review data connectors, analytics rules, incidents, automation and playbooks.
You get a findings report, and we agree what’s worth fixing.
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THEN
Fix
We make the changes with your team, not for them.
Sentinel rules tuned, connectors checked, automation and playbooks tested, training delivered on your own incidents.
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FINALLY
Hand over
Sentinel runbooks, KPIs and a configuration baseline.
Your analysts own it.
A monthly check-in if you want someone reviewing Sentinel configuration and detection drift.
Questions people ask us
Straight answers, in plain English. Every organisation is different, so the details depend on your setup.
Will this disrupt our monitoring?
No more than it has to. Changes are agreed with your team, tested first, and made in stages. Nothing important is switched off without your agreement.
Do we need more licences or more data?
Usually not. We start from the log sources and licences you have. Often some data costs more than it’s worth, and we’ll say so. We only suggest adding sources where they genuinely improve detection.
Can you work with our managed security provider?
Yes. Many organisations have a provider running the day-to-day. We work alongside them and your team, and make sure everyone knows who owns what.
How long does it take?
It depends on how your Sentinel is set up today and how much needs tuning. We typically start with a look at what’s there, then agree the order of changes with you.
What do we get at the end?
Tuned rules, a clearer picture of what you can and can’t detect, response runbooks and a handover, so your team can keep it working.
Tell us what your Sentinel queue looks like on a bad day.
Thirty minutes. No slides.
Bring your Sentinel incident queue, main log sources and the last incident that hurt. We’ll tell you where we’d start, and whether you need us at all.
Book a 30-minute callPick a time that suits you