Security spending in Asia to double in five years
update Security spending is set to double by 2010, as businesses in the Asia-Pacific region snap up more integrated security appliances, according to a new report by research analyst IDC.
The overall security appliance server market in the region excluding Japan is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 15.6 percent over five years, to reach over US$1.1 billion in 2010, IDC noted in a statement on Monday.
The market, comprising multi-feature or unified threat management (UTM) appliances, intrusion prevention systems (IPS), intrusion detection systems, and standalone firewall or virtual private network (VPN) appliances, achieved a year-on-year growth of 39 percent to reach US$549 million in 2005.
Willie Low, market analyst for security research at IDC Asia-Pacific, expects the UTM market to be the fastest growing segment of the security market over the next five years. By 2010, that segment alone is forecast to be worth over US$300 million.
"UTM appliances are increasingly being adopted by customers, especially those who are looking for security appliance servers for branch offices or offsite departments," noted Low. "On top of that, prices have become more competitive, such that there is something at the right price point for even budget-conscious small businesses."
Countries that have more sophisticated IT users are likely to opt for UTM appliances, the analyst added.
Ken Low, 3Com's senior manager for security in the Asia-Pacific region, told ZDNet Asia that UTM appliances "appeal mainly to small and medium-sized companies, especially in Asia, where most of these companies operate on very tight security budgets."
However, he pointed out that they could "lack the technical depth of pre-emptive protection" required by large enterprises. To address this, 3Com's security arm TippingPoint is using a combination of UTM and IPS technologies in its products, Low added.
The IDC report also noted significant growth in demand for IPS in 2005. The revenue contribution to the overall security appliance market by the IPS segment last year more than doubled the 6 percent registered in 2004.
Standalone security appliances, however, still make up the bulk of the overall market demand for security products in 2005, accounting for 53 percent of security appliance server market revenues.