Managed security services market poised for growth

End users will increasingly turn to MSSPs as the volume and complexity of threats continues to increase, claims research

The increase in the volume and complexity of threats will help to drive growth of the managed security services market in the coming years.

That's according to market watcher Infonetics Research, which forecasts that the global market for managed security services will grow by 45 per cent over the next five years.

Infonetics' Cloud and CPE Managed Security Services report looks at both cloud and on-premise-based managed security services delivered by service providers.

The cloud side of the market alone is set to top $9bn by 2017, Infonetics said.

"The long-term outlook for managed security services, and especially cloud services, is quite strong, but there are some potential stumbling blocks," said Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at Infonetics. "Improvements in the efficacy and ease of management of security products could decrease the urgency to move to the cloud, and regulatory drivers are forcing some customers to keep all data on premise."

Managed security services growth will be driven partly by an increase in the volume, variety and complexity of threats, Infonetics said, as well as security product sprawl. The bring-your-own-device craze will also contribute to growth by erasing network perimeters, the analyst added.

Ash Patel, regional director at McAfee-owned security vendor Stonesoft, agreed that more SMBs are turning towards managed security service providers (MSSPs) to combat the new breed of more advanced and complex attacks, rather than fighting them in-house.

"Cyber security must be provided to SMB customers in the same way we use our telephones or electricity," he said. "They do not need to concern themselves with how it works, but simply need to pay a monthly fee for a comprehensive, flexible and robust security service. The future of cyber security for the SMB is with the MSSPs."