Standalone security vendors such as Check Point and SonicWall are making strong headway in the network security market at the expense of generalists like Cisco.

According to Infonetics Research, Cisco saw its share of the global network security appliances and software market fall from 38 to 35 per cent between the first and second quarters of 2009.

The research house noted that large network infrastructure roll outs are seeing lengthier delays than security-specific purchases. As a result, networking companies with security offerings, such as Cisco, are seeing security spending bounce back more slowly than security specialists.

In contrast to Cisco, second-placed outfit Check Point gained two points of revenue share between the first and second quarters.

Infonetics also said its prediction that SME security spend would come back faster than enterprise spending has borne out. This ensured it was a solid quarter for SME specialist SonicWall, which saw revenue leap 10 per cent in the quarter.

Infonetics predicts the global network security market will be worth $5.7bn (£3.5bn) by 2013.

SSL VPN is set to be one of the sector’s hotspots, with growth forecast in the double digits over the next year.

The intrusion detection and prevention sector is also growing nicely, Infonetics added, with a 5.4 per cent sequential rise in product revenues registered in Q2.