Managed security services market still on the up

Double-digit growth last year and cloud to fuel more in the coming years, says Infonetics

The managed security services (MSS) market continued to grow nicely last year, with stellar growth of cloud-based offerings set to fuel further expansion in the years ahead.

According to market data from Infonetics, the global worth of the MSS space jumped 12 per cent in 2012 to $13bn (£8.5bn). The majority of sales still reportedly come from on-premise services, but the market watcher believes that cloud will account for about half of the market by 2017.

Over the next five years worldwide cloud MSS sales are forecast to expand 69 per cent. Hosted DDoS services are expected to be a key factor in driving this growth.

Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics, said: "Buyers are moving to managed security services to deal with increased attack volume and complexity, manage security product sprawl, deliver consistent security for a distributed workforce and device population, and provide security for cloud infrastructure.

"Manufacturers and service providers are developing more mature offerings to build out and deliver managed security to customers, and the net result is the market continues to enjoy healthy overall growth, with particularly strong growth for cloud-based services."

Steve Cox, chief operating officer at VAR Technology Services Group (TSG) - which offers managed UTM appliances and managed email security - said more SMEs are looking to outsource management of their security.

"They recognise how important security is to their business but haven't got the time or knowledge to invest in keeping up-to-date with their policy management and compliance," he said. "They are looking for someone to help keep them compliant."