Sourcefire pays off for Cisco network security sales

Global figures show the vendor remains among the market leaders as acquisition completes

Cisco has made gains on its competitors in the network security market this quarter despite cynicism about the vendor's prospects post-Sourcefire acquisition.

Jeff Wilson, principal analyst for security at US-based market researcher Infonetics, said Cisco will be one vendor that continues to benefit this year from increased investment in network security.

"Cisco completed its acquisition of Sourcefire in the fourth quarter of 2013, and in the process posted its highest security revenue quarter ever, gaining three points of market share," he confirmed.

"The network security market nearly hit double-digit growth in 4Q13, and we expect growth to accelerate this year as service providers and enterprises increase security investment to improve security performance and keep up with a changing threat landscape."

The result comes from Infonetics' Q4 roundup of network security appliance and software sales around the globe. It follows sales of integrated security appliances, secure routers, SSL VPN gateways, VPN and firewall software, as well as intrusion detection and prevention systems.

As reported on ChannelWeb, when Cisco bought Sourcefire in mid-2013 the security channel was sceptical about the big vendor's prospects – given its history as a volume giant and Sourcefire's specialisation in intrusion prevention. However, Cisco appears to be acquitting itself reasonably well so far in a global growth market that expanded 9.8 per cent quarter on quarter to $1.8bn (£1.1bn), Infonetics said.

"Looking at the top three vendors' quarter-over-quarter – Q413 versus Q313 – performance, Cisco increased overall revenue 20 per cent," it said. "Check Point had a typically strong fourth quarter, and Juniper posted its second consecutive quarter of growth."

Wilson's research also saw Palo Alto Networks and Fortinet once again do well quarter over quarter as well as year on year. Both are well placed to continue gaining share, he indicated.

"Infonetics forecasts the worldwide network security market to reach $7.3bn (£4.4bn) in 2018, a 2013-2018 CAGR of 2.5 per cent."

Infonetics' results echo those of IDC, which predicts the EMEA security appliance market alone will expand from $2.5bn to $4.2bn a year by 2018, despite the mediocre growth rates seen last year.