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APAC firms want security to support mobile, application development

Businesses in Asia-Pacific look to IT security to gain better control as well as support increasing focus on mobile and application development, reveals a new study.
Written by Eileen Yu, Senior Contributing Editor

Enterprises in the Asia-Pacific are looking to cybersecurity to enable as well as gain better control of their business, and are planning to spend 26 percent of their IT spend on security over the next three years.

This average figure is up from the 17 percent they currently set aside for security, according to a study titled "8 steps to modernize security for the application economy" commissioned by CA Technologies, in which Singapore enterprises said likewise for 23 percent of their IT spend compared to the current 15 percent.

Conducted by Vanson Bourne, the research polled 650 senior IT and business heads in six Asia-Pacific markets: Singapore, Australia, China, India, Japan, and South Korea. Respondents were from the financial services, healthcare, manufacturing, retail, telecommunications, and media and entertainment sectors. One hundred respondents were from Singapore.

Some 48 percent across the region perceived security as a business enabler and growth driver, and 68 percent had seen or expected to see higher revenue from new services brought about by improved security. In Singapore, these figures stood at 51 percent and 59 percent, respectively, and 49 percent said security was necessary for better control of their business.

In addition, 84 percent of Asia-Pacific enterprises had seen or expected to see higher customer satisfaction and trust from security enhancements, while 75 percent in Singapore said likewise.

Respondents also the need for better security to support efforts to make their data available and release application programming interfaces (APIs), in order to drive innovation and speed up the development of new applications. In Singapore, 86 percent of respondents said they had offered APIs to boost mobile and web application delivery, improve customer engagements as well as create new revenue opportunities. In comparison, 74 percent of their peers in the region did likewise.

Increasing mobility and the need to ensure quality mobile user experience also underscore the importance of security, with 55 percent of Asia-Pacific businesses pointing to mobility as a significant factor on their security policies and practices that deal with customers.

In Singapore, 39 percent cited the need to improve mobile customer experience as one of the top security priorities, while 52 percent said mobility said mobility had a significant impact on their security policies.

Some 48 percent in the country noted the importance of security to safeguard identities, while 46 percent pointed to protection against data breaches. Another 45 percent cited the need to improve and support compliance and audit.

Chua I-Pin, Asia South vice president for CA, said in the report: "It is paramount for Singapore organizations to stay ahead of the fast-changing IT threat landscape, especially in a geographic location that serves as a strategic regional and global hub for commerce.

"Today, businesses are faced with new pressures to strategically invest in IT in order to survive and thrive. The successful organization in the application economy does not look at technologies such as security as a growth inhibitor, but a necessary part of a broader strategy to innovate and grow."

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