Why Your Next Cyber Hire Should Be a Service, Not a Salary

There has been discussions now for a good few years around the skills shortage in IT Security.

While it is one of the biggest growth markets, companies are still struggling to source the right talent.

So here’s a thought:

What if your next cyber hire didn’t come with a payslip — but a service agreement instead?

In the UK right now, thousands of businesses are competing for a shallow pool of skilled cyber professionals. The average salary for a mid-level cyber analyst? £60–70k. Senior roles? North of £100k. And that’s before you factor in benefits, training, holiday cover, and recruitment costs.
 

But this isn’t just about money.

It’s about coverage. Security isn’t a 9 to 5 job anymore. Ransomware doesn’t clock off at the end of the day. Threat actors don’t wait for your team to return from annual leave.

The reality is:

• Your firewall won’t check itself.
• Your alerts won’t triage themselves.
• Patching will still need priority.
• Your users will still click the wrong link at 11:47pm on a Saturday.

 

The Hidden Cost of the Lone Wolf Model

Hiring one person — or even a small in-house team — might seem like control. But in practice, it’s often:

• One point of failure.
• One skillset in a fast-moving threat landscape.
• One person carrying compliance, detection, response, and more.

That’s not strategy. That’s survival.

Compare that with a managed security partner who brings:

• A blended team — threat hunters, compliance pros, analysts, engineers.
• 24/7 coverage — not just working hours.
• Always-on improvement — playbooks, patching, threat intelligence, and response.

And most importantly: no hiring risk. No HR overhead. No burnout.

The Financial Case: Control Without the Headcount

Let’s talk brass tacks.

Hiring a single mid-level security resource = £70k+ per year

MSSP partnership = often 40–60% less, with more depth, broader scope, and round-the-clock availability.

That’s like hiring half the capability for twice the price.

And if you’re a small or mid-sized business?

Trying to build an internal SOC or IR capability from scratch is like hiring a Michelin-star chef to flip burgers — it’s the wrong model for your size, speed, and scale.

You Don’t Need a Bigger Team. You Need a Smarter One.

MSSPs don’t replace your IT team — they supercharge it.

They bring maturity, process, tooling, and muscle to security operations, while your internal staff stay focused on delivering value to the business.

It’s not outsourcing.

It’s operational leverage.

Final Thought: Stop Hiring Headcount. Start Hiring Outcomes.

Security today isn’t just about who you employ — it’s about how you respond, how fast you detect, and how well you recover. Those aren’t tied to a job title. They’re tied to capability.

So before you post that next job ad…

Ask yourself: do we need another CV — or a team that’s ready from day one?