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[October 09, 2003]
WAN Access Providers Poised To Reap Benefits Of Security Services Growth
While the demand for managed security services has been limited in the past few years, the worldwide managed security services market is expected to grow from $1.6 billion in 2002 to $5.9 billion in 2007, reports In-Stat/MDR (http://www.instat.com). This growth will definitely result in a lot of opportunity for the main players in this space � hardware and software vendors, managed service providers, traditional telcos, and consulting firms. However, the high-tech market research firm expects that the WAN access providers, which have an existing services relationship with the largest percent of the market, are poised to reap the most immediate benefits of the continued need for these types of services.
Any company that has some type of WAN access needs security. However, while this group of service providers has the best reach to customers, they also tend to have the least expertise on security. The most security-savvy of the competing security service providers are the security niche players, vendors like, Counterpane, Guardent, and Symantec, which have built their reputation solely on their ability to provide top-level security. The start-up mentality for many of the niche players, has allowed them to quickly adapt to market changes, and provide services for new types of security equipment faster than any other type of managed security service provider.
In-Stat/MDR has also found that:
While security-consulting made up the majority of managed security services in 2001, managed security monitoring is expected to become the biggest piece of the market by 2007 at $2.5 billion.
In a recent survey, In-Stat/MDR found that the largest segment of buyers is planning to purchase security products and services in 6 months to less than one year, which based on the date of the survey roughly equates to the 1H 2004. This is promising for security product and service vendors, alike.
Respondents to In-Stat/MDR�s survey have many reasons for purchasing security solutions. The most common reason cited by respondents is the business liability issue.
Security legislation in the financial, healthcare, and government sectors, including Gramm-Leach Bliley and HIPAA, is pushing companies in these markets to look for assistance in implementing solutions to meet legal requirements. The sensitive nature of the data in these industries is what drives these vertical industries ahead, in respect to security services.
Smaller Managed Security Service Providers (MSSPs) are offering co-management capabilities allowing for more customizable security service offerings. Co-management allows an outsourced service provider to provide security on only a limited basis, during a specific time period, such as after-hours, or for specific tasks. The larger MSSPs expect co-management to be costly for the smaller MSSPs should a security event occur.
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