BYOD trend causes EMEA network security market spike
Latest figures from Canalys reveal the fourth-quarter market grew nine per cent as firms struggled to secure their networks
Mounting concerns over employees using their own smartphones and tablets for work purposes caused the EMEA network security market to grow nine per cent in Q4 2011, according to the latest figures from Canalys.
The market was valued at $674m (£431m) in Q4 2011 as more firms invested to protect against denial-of-service attacks, and to counter the security risks posed by the bring-your-own-device (BYOD) trend, the analyst claimed.
In particular, a boom in western European spending was evident, the analyst claimed, with 9.7 per cent year-on-year growth, despite large declines in southern Europe. Russia and emerging markets in central and eastern Europe were also strong, showing 14.9 per cent growth.
The market across the Middle East and Africa declined 0.3 per cent, with Canalys citing economic and political uncertainty in some countries causing projects to be put on hold.
Nushin Hernandez, analyst at Canalys, said: “Organisations are investing to protect against the rise in denial-of-service attacks. They are also having to cope with increasing numbers of personal smartphones and tablets that are being brought into the workplace by employees. The need for more integrated solutions has also become paramount; tougher compliance regulations are forcing organisations to deploy broader security capabilities.”
Leading the network security market with 26.6 per cent market share was Cisco. Check Point was the nearest competitor with 19.3 per cent share, and Juniper came in third with 9.7 per cent. IBM held fourth place with 3.4 per cent market share.
Hernandez added: “Cisco extended its lead over the competition this quarter by securing key high-end deals coupled with aggressive pricing. A refresh of its ASA products and additions to its mid-range appliances will help it maintain its strong position in the high-end firewall segment and open up the competitive mid-market in 2012. Its security business will grow, but it must work with channel partners to win more security-specific deals in addition to succeeding with networking business add-on sales.”
In 2011, most vendors introduced application control capability into their firewalls, Canalys noted, but it said this will become less of a differentiator in 2012, and expected more as standard.
“This year we will see vendors tailoring their portfolios to target distinct, growing opportunities, such as datacentres, managed security services and small businesses,” Alex Smith, senior analyst at Canalys, said. “But we also expect to see more aggressive pricing, through discounts and channel promotions, and this will often be led by smaller vendors confident they can take share from the larger, broader players.”