Vic Booysen Head of Cloudmania South Africa

“Security around the clock is a necessity in today’s threat landscape,” explains Vic Booysen, Head of Cloudmania South Africa. “Hackers never sleep, and their methods are becoming increasingly sophisticated. Organisations in the small to medium sized sectors do not always have the resources to build their own security operations centre, monitor their environment 24/7, and take immediate action in the case of an attack.”

From ransomware to phishing, SMBs are experiencing the same volume and sophistication of attacks as large enterprises, but with far fewer resources. Data from multiple industry reports shows that more than 60% of SMBs hit by a cyberattack close within six months due to the high cost of recovery, reputational damage, and downtime. In our own SOC-as-a-Service deployments, we’ve seen attackers deliberately strike after business hours, when internal IT teams are unavailable, giving them longer dwell time to exfiltrate data or disrupt operations.

To address these risks, Cloudmania has introduced SOC-as-a- Service: a subscription-based model that delivers enterprise grade threat monitoring, detection, response, and recovery without the capital expense of building an in-house SOC. Delivered as an add-on to existing Microsoft subscriptions, the service integrates seamlessly with other partner offerings to strengthen overall security posture.

An effective Security Operations Centre is more than just technology – it’s a fusion of people, process and intelligence. With 24/7 monitoring, Cloudmania’s SOC-as-a-Service can quickly identify threats, respond in real time, and ensure that backups and recovery plans are ready if an incident occurs.

Cloudmania’s SOC-as-a-service is designed with SMBs in mind - organisations with 300 users or less, all the way through larger enterprises. SMBs are often underserved by traditional cybersecurity providers, yet they are the backbone of the economy.

As Booysen notes: “These businesses play a crucial role in the economy, and are often the most vulnerable to an attack. Suffering the financial and reputational damage of an attack, as well as the downtime and delays in getting up and running again, can result in a smaller business having to close its doors. With SOC-as-a-service, small to medium-sized businesses can be confident that their security needs are efficiently handled around the clock.”

There are certain minimum requirements for a user to be onboarded. Microsoft Defender Plan 2 is needed for the Essential package, Microsoft Business Premium for the Advanced package, and Microsoft E5 for the Elite package. If customers don’t have these solutions, Cloudmania’s partners help them to upgrade seamlessly. This makes SOCaaS accessible without complexity, providing a clear pathway to stronger security.

At Cloudmania, customer experience is paramount. “We strive to make it easy and enjoyable to do business with us. We are not in the business of simply selling licenses, but rather to empower our resellers to enhance their customers’ experience,” says Booysen. Cloudmania invests in strong partner relationships, interactive workshops, and continuous feedback loops to ensure services evolve with customer needs. With a highly experienced cybersecurity team, SMBs gain the same level of protection that enterprises rely on—delivered with a customer-centric approach that meets the unique demands of each organization.

“One of my firm beliefs is that we walk the journey with our resellers and their customers, always emphasising the human side of the business and providing a personal touch,” Booysen says. “With an up-to-date approach, a solid track record, and a brilliant, highly experienced cybersecurity team, we are able to offer a full security service, giving assurance to our end users that their environment is safe.” 

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Find out more about our cybersecurity offers: www.cloudmania.africa