India's SMBs to spend US$289M on security

Small and midsize businesses (SMB) in India are poised to spend US$289 million on security this year, up 32 percent over 2007, according to a new study.

Released by AMI-Partners Monday, the study found that India's midsize businesses (MB), with 100 to 999 employees, will generate most of this demand, accounting for 54 percent of the country's total SMB security expenditure.

Abhilash D.B., an analyst at AMI-Partners, said Indian SMBs are realizing that having an effective security policy will boost their chances of securing links with ="http: www.zdnetasia.com="" news="" business="" 0,39044229,62044933,00.htm"="" title="India@61: From low-cost to high-value--Friday, Aug. 15, 2008">global supply chains.

"That's because Web-enabled activities in day-to-day business make an organization highly prone to security threats," Abhilash said in the report.

The emergence of the paperless office and regulations requiring archiving and protection of confidential consumer data, have also increased the need for effective information security, he added.

Security software accounts for 74 percent of the total SMB security expenditure in India, Abhilash said. While the majority of this spend is on "traditional security products" such as antivirus software, the demand for such applications is slowing down, the study found. Emerging products such as anti-spyware and anti-spam, will record sales growth of nearly 40 percent among Indian SMBs this year.

Abhilash said: "MBs are no longer finding solace in standalone antivirus solutions. They want capabilities such as anti-spam, firewall and intrusion detection.

"Vulnerability assessment tools are becoming important as the larger MBs are becoming increasingly proactive toward information security management," he said.