Project Resourcing (Part 1)

By Ashwin Venugopal -

 




To read part 2, please click here



Project Planning

There are following key points that should be kept in mind during the project planning stage because they affect a project's duration:

  1. Access to log sources, system, and data owners.
  2. Types of log sources (such as, standard data connectors versus custom development).
  3. Complexity of Azure architecture (like, multiple tenants, cross-tenant searching).
  4. Requirement for custom SOAR automation playbooks, and interaction with other connected systems.
  5. Azure cost assessment and optimization strategy.
  6. Customer change management processes.

Main roles required for a successful Microsoft Sentinel deployment include:

  1. Project Manager
  2. Security Architect
  3. Cloud Engineer
  4. Engineering - systems owner
  5. SIEM Engineer
  6. Network Engineer
  7. Business Analyst
  8. SOC Analyst
  9. Developer (languages vary, but C#, Java, and Python are often beneficial)
  10. Compliance manager

Project Manager

It is recommended to have an experienced project management staff with Project Management Professional (PMP) and Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) backgrounds. It is because the stakeholder management requirements can be quite broad. The projects of Microsoft Sentinel will require input and work effort from teams supporting both cloud and on-premises infrastructure, end-user-facing services like SaaS applications and workstations, as well as mission-critical server infrastructure. 

Security Architect

There are numerous ways to gain security visibility to assets in the organization's information technology environment, but log ingestion from these sources must always be accompanied by analysis of the cost impact of ingestion and analysis of data. The Microsoft Sentinel environment will always contain highly sensitive data, and appropriate role-based access control must be applied to the Azure resources in scope of the project. The security architect will have the responsibility for the security design of the Microsoft Sentinel solution. 

Cloud Engineer

Microsoft Sentinel is very likely one of the many services running on an organization's Azure tenant. Hence, the organization's Azure cloud engineer/administrator will determine the resiliency requirements, Azure regions, data residency, and required tagging or templates applicable to Microsoft Sentinel. The engineer may also deploy various Azure policies that might help in the configuration of logging for multiple Azure resources. 

Engineer - Systems Owner

Log structuring and format may vary from source to source, and organizational owners of assets like SaaS applications, workstations, servers, cloud endpoints, and security infrastructure are often widely distributed. Hence, Subject Matter Experts (SMEs) and asset owners with administrative ability to offer samples of logs and configure log-forwarding parameters on each asset are required to dedicate effort to working with the project team to make sure that the data is sent to Microsoft Sentinel.

Conclusion

Here are some initial views of the key components of Microsoft Sentinel to provide an overview. 







To read part 2, please click here






































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