The security software market is poised to grow 10% from 2009 to 2014, according to Gartner's analysis of the worldwide market for the second quarter of 2010.
In its analysis, Gartner says though the economic downturn pushed growth rates down to 7% in 2009, the security software market is expected to recover to post double digits in 2010. Companies have indicated an intention to give priority to security budgets.
According to the forecast, the worldwide estimate for security software revenue for 2010 is $16.5 billion, reflecting a positive 11.3% annual growth rate (AGR) from the $14.8 billion actual revenue for 2009.
Presenting their analysis, Gartner analysts Ruggero Contu and Matthew Cheung say: “This new AGR forecast has been lowered from 13.5% to 11.3% for 2010 and lowered slightly in the next four years due primarily to the lingering effects of the euro crisis in Western Europe”.
They add that security software markets will maintain healthy growth during the long term. “However, security vendors will continue to face tough product life cycle decisions and short-term pressure on price and margins”.
The analysts attribute cloud computing and the changes in how software technology is being deployed, accessed and used as problems to be faced by security software vendors.
The threat landscape, which is becoming more complex, as well as compliance demands will also help to spur the security software market. Says Gartner: “The security software market continues to benefit from prioritisation and demands related to compliance requirements, as well as the need to keep up with ever-increasing sophistication and volume in the threat landscape”.
Furthermore, the analysts say improvement in the global economy will also boost the security software market. “The global economic growth outlook continues to improve incrementally. In this environment, company financials are stable and meeting expectations in general, which is improving business confidence,” say the analysts.
Though the security software market has been impacted by the recession, Gartner says the effects were not as dramatic as those for other IT markets.
As far as regional performance is concerned, Gartner says all geographies felt the impact of a slowdown in security software spending in 2009. “Most mature regions felt the greatest impact, with emerging regions showing significantly slower growth rates than in previous years.”
According to Gartner, the most sought-after security software products this year will be suite-based options in enterprise endpoint security, identity and access management, and Web security. They add that identity and enterprise management comprises about 8% of enterprise security budgets to date and that segment overall will grow to more than $12 billion by 2014.
The analysts note that key faster-growing segments within the security software market include e-mail security boundary, security information and event management.
The 2010 Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Africa, themed 'Innovation: The key to the future', will take place from 30 August to 1 September at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
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