MDR Not Meeting Expectations? Here’s What’s Really Going Wrong

If you’re looking to invest in Managed Detection and Response (MDR), chances are you’d like to finally gain the peace of mind that comes with knowing that someone is watching your network 24/7 and ready to act if anything suspicious happens. But for too many organisations, the reality doesn’t match the promise. Hours can pass before threats are addressed, reporting is inconsistent, and IT teams end up wondering whether they’re truly getting the protection they’re paying for.

Having worked closely with dozens of UK SMBs navigating MDR partnerships, we’ve seen the same frustrations surface again and again. MDR should reduce risk and workload, yet when delivered poorly, it creates more confusion than clarity.

In this article, I’ll unpack the most common MDR complaints, why they happen, and what “good” really looks like so you can partner with a vendor with confidence.

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What This Blog Covers:

• The #1 Complaint: “We’re Left in the Dark”
• Response Times: Minutes vs Hours (and Why It Matters)
• Integration & Fit: When MDR Creates More Work, Not Less
• “Hero” Vendors vs “Cheap & Cheerful” Alternatives
• Why So Many MDR Promises Fall Flat
• The Three Questions Every SMB Should Ask Before Signing
• Your MDR Evaluation Checklist 
• The Bottom Line on MDR Partnerships

The #1 Complaint: “We’re Left in the Dark”

The biggest frustration I hear from SMBs is that they don’t know what’s going on. They’ve outsourced detection and response, but can’t see what threats were found, how they were handled, or whether action was even taken. All too often, an IT lead has told us, “We pay for MDR, but I couldn’t tell you what we’re actually getting.” When that happens, it’s not just a technical issue; it’s a communication failure that erodes trust in their service provider.

Unfortunately, many MDR vendors operate reactively: they communicate when something goes wrong, but remain silent when things are stable. That lack of transparency means IT leaders have little data to share with management, which makes it that much harder to justify the investment.

Check out this article for some tips on how you can justify your cyber spend to leadership.

What good looks like:

• Proactive communication: Scheduled monthly or quarterly reviews, not just reactive calls after an incident.
• Evidence-based reporting: A clear audit trail of alerts, actions, and resolutions.
• Contextual insight: Explaining not just what happened, but why and how to prevent repeat issues.

Response Times: Minutes vs Hours (and Why It Matters)

When it comes to cyber incidents, every minute matters. Every extra minute between detection and containment gives an attacker time to pivot, expand, and do some real damage. The difference between a minor breach and a major outage often comes down to how fast your provider acts.

This is where things can get tricky. Some MDR vendors define “response” as acknowledging an alert, not taking action. So while you might receive confirmation within four hours, the actual containment could take much longer. In today’s threat landscape, that’s too slow and simply unacceptable.

What good looks like:

• Detection-to-containment: Under 15 minutes for critical alerts.
• Automation-first: Known threats are contained instantly without manual intervention.
• Human escalation: Analysts step in when context is needed, not as the first line of defence.

More MDR vendors are leveraging the power of automation, which significantly shortens response times. The best MDR platforms use automation to neutralise common threats quickly, while giving analysts the time to focus on the more complex, high-risk scenarios.

Integration & Fit: When MDR Creates More Work, Not Less

As Ryan Kinsella said in this article, an MDR's main focus is to actively hunt for threats, monitor your attack surface, and respond fast if a bad actor does get in. So in essence, it should make your life easier. But too often, it does the opposite. We see businesses juggling multiple portals, duplicate alerts, and conflicting reports across their stack. Instead of a single pane of glass, they get three different versions of the same incident.

Providers claim to be “technology agnostic,” but that can mean shallow integrations. Without deep connections into Microsoft 365, endpoint protection, and identity tools, alerts aren’t correlated properly, and duplication runs wild.

What good looks like:

• Native integrations: Direct pipelines between your MDR and core tools.
• Deduplication: One incident equals one alert, no matter how many tools detect it.
• Unified dashboards: Actionable insights, not endless noise.

One Babble customer saw a 40% reduction in alert volume after switching to an MDR with built-in Microsoft Defender integration. By merging the data streams, we gave their IT lead a clear, prioritised view instead of hundreds of redundant alerts.

“Hero” Vendors vs “Cheap & Cheerful” Alternatives

As the saying goes, you get what you pay for. Low-cost MDR options look appealing, but they often rely on manual processes, offshore analysts, and overburdened teams working across time zones. These setups might look fine on paper, but the cracks show fast: delayed responses, missed context, and unclear escalation paths. Meanwhile, top-tier or “hero” vendors invest in automation, 24/7 staffed Security Operations Centres (SOCs), and local expertise.

What good looks like:

• Transparent SLAs: Defined, measurable, and enforced.
• Proven outcomes: Verified mean-time-to-detect (MTTD) and mean-time-to-respond (MTTR) metrics.
• Local analysts: Aligned to UK time zones and compliance requirements.

Why So Many MDR Promises Fall Flat

Every MDR provider makes the same claims, promising 24/7 protection, instant response, and AI-driven insight. But the reality is that some “round-the-clock” SOCs simply forward alerts to your inbox outside business hours. In such a crowded market, vendors overpromise to win deals. SMBs, who often lack the technical depth or expertise to challenge those claims, accept the buzzwords at face value. This, coupled with the cheap sticker price, ultimately results in a mismatch between expectation and delivery.

What good looks like:

• Evidence-based transparency: Real MTTD and MTTR metrics are shared in writing.
• Service breakdowns: It has been made clear which tasks are automated, which are human-led, and how escalation works.
• Live demos: They provide end-to-end alert simulations, not recycled slide decks.

The Three Questions Every SMB Should Ask Before Signing

1. “What’s your average response time for critical alerts — and can you prove it?” Ask for anonymised dashboards or reports.
2. “How do you integrate with our current stack?” Verify compatibility with Microsoft 365, EDR, and SIEM tools.
3. “Can you show me a real-world case study for a business like ours?” Focus on a similar size, industry, and technology mix.

If a vendor can’t answer these confidently, you already know the likely outcome.

The Bottom Line on MDR Partnerships

Every one of the common MDR problems — poor visibility, slow responses, fragmented systems — can be fixed. Transparency can be built into your reporting, response times can be measured and improved, and integrations can be tightened to deliver the clarity you should have had from the start. When MDR works as it should, it doesn’t just protect your network — it empowers your team, shortens incident timelines, and gets you leadership buy-in.

But if your provider isn’t delivering that, the cost isn’t just financial. Choosing the wrong MDR partner increases your exposure. Every missed alert, delayed containment, and duplicated process erodes trust and wastes time. Your MDR isn’t just a security function: you need to be able to trust your vendor. You’re relying on another team to act when you can’t, to be your first line of defence when things go wrong. That trust must be earned and continually demonstrated, not assumed.

Over the years, I’ve seen firsthand how the right MDR partnership transforms that trust into tangible results. At Babble, our mission is to make enterprise-level security simple, practical, and measurable for growing UK businesses — so your IT team can focus on what matters, with the confidence that someone has their back.

If you’re unsure how your current MDR stacks up, or you want reassurance that your defences are working as they should, now’s the time to take action. Book a free Cyber Risk Assessment with Babble. We’ll benchmark your current setup against proven best practice, highlight the gaps, and build a clear, actionable roadmap to strengthen your protection and restore confidence where it belongs — with you and your team.