IT security market still growing

The recession-proof character of the IT security market has been thrown into sharp relief by upbeat new figures.

According to Infonetics Research, global sales of network security appliances and software rose 4 per cent between the second and third quarter of 2008 to $1.44bn (£981m). The research house said the market had been kept ticking over by a number of drivers including cost-saving security investments, compliance and the growth in the number of threats.

The figures will offer a crumb of comfort to channel players reeling from the contraction of other segments of the market. Earlier this week, Gartner claimed EMEA server revenues had fallen for the first time in over two years (Channelweb, 2 December).

Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for network security at Infonetics, said almost every security vendor he had talked to was not seeing significant weakness in the third quarter and had seen minimal effects on its pipeline for Q4 and beyond.

“Drivers for deploying security in large part are divorced from macro-economic drivers, and though business growth and expansion is a driver for security spending, contraction caused by declines in corporate revenue is being offset by more pressing drivers, including regulation and compliance, cost-saving security investments, service provider spending on security, and the explosive growth in the number, variety, and volume of threats,” he said.

Cisco remained king of the castle with 40 per cent of the market under its belt. Juniper and Check Point were placed second and third.

The intrusion detection (IDS) and intrusion prevention (IPS) sector was among the hotspots, growing 21 per cent.