 
|
|
In partnership with:
|
25 July 2007 IT security spending to exceed $20bn by 2010SA Mathieson
Organisations will spend $20.9 billion (£10.2bn, EUR14bn at today’s rates) in 2010 on securing their networks and systems, UK market analyst Datamonitor said on 25 July, up 32% from the $15.8bn they will spend this year. But Alaa Owaineh, an associate analyst at the firm, said that different sectors will grow at significantly different rates. “There is a big rise in the importance of data protection, data loss prevention and encryption,” he said. “Another area that is growing quickly, although it’s debatable if one should include it within IT security or management, is the area of IT auditing and risk management.” Other sectors, such as virtual private networks (VPNs) and firewalls, are growing much more slowly, Owaineh added – although with certain faster-growth areas, such as the use of secure sockets layer (SSL) technology for VPNs. In a new report, ‘Decision Matrix: Selecting an Enterprise Security Vendor’, Owaineh writes that consolidation is likely among vendors. “End users are fed up with buying 30 solutions from 30 vendors. They want three or four that will integrate easily,” he said, adding that company acquisitions will speed this process. Such purchases have been common in recent weeks, with Google buying Postini, PatchLink buying SecureWave and, on 18 July, Oracle buying its Silicon Valley neighbour, identity theft and fraud detection vendor Bharosa, for an undisclosed amount. Owaineh said Symantec, McAfee and IBM are well-placed to become primary suppliers of IT security, providing a framework to organisations and claiming much of their spending, although this will leave space for specialist providers such as Check Point and RSA. Symantec does not provide identity management, preferring to focus on infrastructure, while McAfee has more depth and breadth than Symantec, he said. He said that IBM are adding security functions to its existing infrastructure products. “IBM sees the future of many aspects of enterprise security as part of infrastructure security, things like placing data protection in the infrastructure,” concluded Owaineh. Google buys Postini to sell infosecurity as a service (10 July 2007) PatchLink to acquire SecureWave (22 June 2007)
|
|
