Endpoint protection with a round-the-clock managed detection team for a company with no security staff

What you’re looking for is managed detection and response (MDR)—endpoint protection paired with a 24/7 security operations team that investigates and responds, rather than just sending alerts for your staff to handle.

A practical shortlist:

• Huntress Managed EDR: A straightforward SMB option. Its published MSRP is $8.99 per endpoint/month, including a 24/7 human SOC and active remediation. For a company with no security staff, ask an MSP to handle deployment and day-to-day operations: buying directly leaves those responsibilities with you, and direct purchases have a 50-seat minimum. (huntress.com)
• Sophos MDR: Worth comparing if you want broader coverage or already use Sophos or Microsoft security tools. Sophos describes 24/7 monitoring, investigation, and response, including for organizations without a dedicated security team; pricing is quote-based. (sophos.com)

My starting point: Get quotes from both, preferably through an MSP that will own setup, routine management, and incident coordination. In the quote, confirm that the provider can contain or remediate threats, how it contacts you during an incident, and what happens if the main contact is unavailable. Ask whether coverage includes servers and remote devices, not just employee laptops.

If you share your approximate number of devices, whether you use Microsoft 365, and whether you already have an IT provider, I can narrow this down.

Short answer: Buy a fully managed MDR service that bundles endpoint protection (EDR) with an analyst team that watches and responds 24/7. Without an in-house team, the people matter as much as the software. Detection tools that nobody watches overnight don't help much.

Shortlist by fit

• Huntress Managed EDR: Best value for small companies. PeerSpot's September 2026 user ranking put it first, with users appreciating proactive monitoring, a user-friendly interface, and affordability. One 2026 ranking calls it the clear value leader for small businesses.
• Sophos MDR: A strong default if you run Microsoft. It is designed for organizations of all sizes and all stages of security maturity, from those with no dedicated security team, and it is a Microsoft-verified Small and Medium Business (SMB) Solution.
• CrowdStrike Falcon Complete: The strongest option on detection and containment, but it costs more and is the strongest service if you can fund it and standardize on Falcon.
• Arctic Wolf: Better suited to mid-market firms. One comparison describes it as best for mid-market organizations with an IT team but no SOC. It offers a Concierge Security Team with named advisors.
• Defendify or Consilien: Choose these if you want one partner to handle IT, security leadership, and compliance. Defendify is Subscription, from ~$3,250/mo (starting point). Consilien pairs managed detection and response with virtual CISO leadership, managed IT, and compliance readiness under one partner.

Budget: MDR typically costs a few thousand dollars per month for small and mid-sized businesses. Vendor pricing is usually custom, so get quotes.

What to verify before you sign

• Response authority: Ask whether analysts can isolate a machine without waiting for your approval. Falcon Complete analysts are authorized to contain threats without waiting for customer approval. Some services only send alerts, and that gap matters at 2 a.m.
• Coverage beyond endpoints: Check whether email, identity, and cloud are included. Many attacks start with a stolen login rather than malware.
• Fit with your stack: If you already license Microsoft Defender, confirm the vendor integrates with it rather than forcing a replacement.
• Onboarding time: Some deployments take weeks. Ask for a timeline and a trial.
• Vendor ranking sources: Many of the "best of" lists come from vendors or resellers with a stake in the outcome, so treat them as starting points and compare two or three providers directly.

If you tell me your headcount, operating systems (Windows, Mac, Microsoft 365, Google Workspace), industry, and monthly budget, I can narrow this to one or two options.

For a company without internal security staff, the most effective solution is a Managed Detection and Response (MDR) service.

Why You Need MDR (Not Just EDR)

If you purchase an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) tool alone, you are essentially buying a sophisticated "alarm system" that will send you alerts at 3 a.m. If you don't have a security team to interpret those alerts, investigate them, and take action, those alerts are effectively useless.

MDR solves this by providing:

• 24/7 Human Monitoring: A team of experts watches your systems around the clock so you don’t have to.
• Active Response: Instead of just sending you an email, these teams can take action—such as isolating an infected laptop from the network or disabling a compromised user account—before the damage spreads.
• Elimination of "Alert Fatigue": The MDR team filters out the noise (false positives) and only contacts you when there is a genuine threat that requires your attention.

Recommended Approaches for Your Size

Since you do not have dedicated security staff, you should look for "fully managed" or "turnkey" services rather than "co-managed" services, which often require you to have your own team to partner with.

1. Solutions Built for Small-to-Midsize Businesses (SMBs)

These vendors are specifically designed for organizations that want to "set it and forget it" regarding security operations:

• Huntress: Widely regarded as a top choice for small businesses. They are highly focused on the SMB market, offer a 24/7 human-led Security Operations Center (SOC), and are known for being easy to deploy without needing a dedicated security team.
• Sophos MDR: A strong option that offers a "vendor-agnostic" approach. They can monitor your existing environment (even if it's not all Sophos tools) and have an "agentic" model where AI handles the routine work while their human analysts handle complex incidents.

2. Enterprise-Grade Solutions

If you have a larger budget or more complex requirements, these are industry leaders:

• CrowdStrike Falcon Complete: This is an "all-inclusive" service where their team essentially runs your security. It is highly effective but often priced for larger organizations.
• SentinelOne (Singularity/Wayfinder): Offers automated, AI-native protection. Their managed services (like Wayfinder MDR) are designed to provide expert defense for teams that cannot afford to hire their own SOC.
• Arctic Wolf: Known for providing a "concierge" security team. They focus on both monitoring your environment and helping you improve your overall security posture over time.

Questions to Ask Before You Buy

When evaluating these services, don't focus on the "feature list." Focus on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and the operational model:

1. "What exactly do you do during an incident?" (Ensure they can respond and contain the threat, not just notify you.)
2. "Are you a 24/7/365 human-staffed SOC?" (Confirm that you aren't just paying for automated software.)
3. "Can you support my current tech stack?" (Make sure they work with the tools—like Microsoft 365 or your current firewalls—that you already own.)
4. "What is your average response time?" (Look for providers that explicitly state their Mean Time to Respond.)

Recommendation: For a business with no security staff, Huntress or a similar managed-service-focused provider is typically the most cost-effective and practical starting point. They are built specifically to act as your security team rather than just selling you software.

Sophos Endpoint with Sophos MDR is a strong fit for a company with no security staff. Sophos says MDR provides 24/7 monitoring, threat hunting, investigation, and response as a managed service, so you don’t need to run your own security operations center. ²³

When comparing plans, confirm who can contain and fully remediate an incident on your behalf. Sophos describes its MDR Plus tier as including full-scale incident response, with a dedicated incident-response lead to help eliminate threats. ⁵ If you already use Microsoft Defender or other security tools, Sophos says MDR can work with existing tools, so ask whether your current setup is supported. ¹⁰

Before signing, get clear answers on pricing, minimum device counts, onboarding, response authority, support for your operating systems, and what happens if an incident occurs.