Analysts are predicting that the total global spend on security tools and software packages to protect and secure data will rise by the year’s end as the industry sees the effects of the economic turndown wane.
Gartner reports that businesses and organisations will spend £10.6 billion on security in 2010, which equates to an 11 per cent increase compared to the same period in 2009 when £9.6 billion was spent on security software.
Gartner noted that a decrease in investment had been a consequence of the global recession, but it said that most firms are still looking to strengthen and streamline their current data protection and system security technology in order to keep up with the ever changing threats.
Gartner’s Ruggero Contu said that security is set to experience the most significant growth of all sectors of the business software market, although he warned that the newer platforms may not perform as well as the more venerable tools on the market.
Mr Contu said that the industry experienced a similar slowdown during 2001 and 2002, but said that unlike that dip, the current security market is far more diverse, offering businesses flexible options and competitive vendors.
Mr Contu believes that the industry will be able to grow and offset the risks facing the systems and data managed by businesses and consumers around the world thanks to inventive payment schemes and flexible contracts.
Although enterprise customers are set to spend around £1.86 billion on data security software in 2010, Gartner expects that the consumer market will produce the greatest revenues for vendors, with individuals spending a total of £2.7 billion, up by £200 million compared to 2009.
Gartner says that the number of firms buying software as a service will exceed those who invest money to enhance in-house alternatives because of the ever-changing landscape of risk. It notes that malicious software and attack botnets are altering too quickly for businesses and that they must thus look to support from vendors in order to protect themselves in the future.
