APAC managed security services to hit $4B

The Asia-Pacific managed security services (MSS) market is set to grow steadily over the next five years, crossing the US$4 billion mark by end-2015, according to new predictions from Frost & Sullivan.

The region's MSS market, including Japan, is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate of 19.7 percent between 2010 and 2015, boosted by an anticipated increase in demand from small and midsize businesses (SMBs), the market analyst said in a statement Thursday.

By the end of 2010, MSS revenues will reach nearly US$1.6 billion, reflecting a year-on-year increase of 18.2 percent, said Frost & Sullivan. Last year, the market grew 15 percent over 2008 to rake in more than US$1.3 billion.

Hosted security services in demand include monitoring and management services. These accounted for about half of the total market revenues last year, according to Frost & Sullivan.

In terms of customer segments, 75 percent of the region's revenues came from large enterprises, which traditionally have been the biggest consumers of IT products and services.

However, Cathy Huang, industry analyst at Frost & Sullivan, noted that the managed services model is a "compelling option for SMBs" as they can hardly afford to set aside capital expenditure (Capex) on security technologies. In addition, smaller enterprises also find it hard to cope with the complexity brought about by an relentless onslaught of newer and increasingly targeted threats, Huang said in the statement.

"As SMBs realize the economic sense in the shared infrastructure model, the attraction quotient would ramp up significantly, particularly for hosted security services where the equipment is owned and housed at the service providers' premises and users need only pay for on-demand services," she said. "Hosted security services would appeal to the SMB sector even more when the service is bundled with other Internet or communications services."

S'pore firms warm up to hosted security
Separately, findings from a study commissioned by Symantec Hosted Services found that willingness among Singapore-based businesses to employ security-as-a-service is at an all-time high.

A study of 104 IT managers and decision makers in the country revealed that one in four companies had already deployed hosted security services, according to a statement Thursday from Symantec.

More than half, or 55 percent, of Singapore companies that have not tapped hosted security services indicated plans to do so in the future, added the security vendor.

"Most respondents believe that security expertise is the top benefit of a hosted security service, as compared to having in-house IT personnel who may not have the necessary expertise or resources to keep the system updated and effectively protected against constantly evolving cyber threats," Symantec said in the statement.

Over 70 percent of respondents said the biggest perceived benefit of security-as-a-service was more robust protection from IT security experts. This was followed by cost optimization or predictability, cited by 37 percent of participants.

The survey was conducted by market research firm Harris Interactive between January and February this year.