Worldwide spending on security is expected to touch the $60 billion mark in 2012, up 8.4 percent from $55 billion in the previous year, according to research company Gartner — this figure will approach $86 billion in 2016.
“The security infrastructure market is expected to experience positive growth over the forecast period, despite risks of further economic turbulence,” said Lawrence Pingree, research director at Gartner.
As per Gartner, the security infrastructure market consists of the software, services and network security appliances used to secure enterprise and consumer IT equipment.
IT outsourcing (managed security services), secure Web gateway (appliance), and security information and event management (SIEM) are the fastest-growing security segments, Gartner said.
It was also noted that demand for cloud-based security is affecting a number of key security markets, and that this new delivery model will see above-average growth.
“Results from the 2012 annual Gartner CIO survey show increased prioritisation for security compared with 2011 and results from Gartner budgeting surveys published in June 2012 underline the fact that organisations globally are prioritising on security budgets,” Pingree added.
As per the survey, the vast majority of respondents expected their security budgets to increase or stay the same — 45 percent and 50 percent respectively — with only 5 percent expecting their budget to decrease in 2012, Gartner reported.
While this was the general overall pattern, respondents in some emerging regions were more likely to expect an increase in their budgets.
“Although security remains fairly resilient in tough times, the prolonged financial crises seen in the U.S. and Europe have had some impact on IT security spending globally but to a lesser extent for emerging countries, such as Brazil, China and India,” said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner.
“In 2012, the market contributing most to overall growth, excluding exchange rate effects, is security services, followed by security software,” Pingree said.
This increased demand for security products and services will be driven by the need for organisations to mitigate risks and reduce security vulnerabilities in the face of the continuous and evolving sophistication of threats.
“We expect current market trends will keep security infrastructure growth at between 9 percent and 11 percent from 2011 through 2013, but we are factoring in a higher degree of caution in terms of buying behavior,” Pingee added.
