Lack of cybersecurity professionals to drive up services spending - Gartner

Analyst claims tightening regulations and lack of talent are increasing services spending

Global IT security spending is forecast to rise by almost a quarter to hit $124.12bn (£96.48bn) in 2019, largely driven by the low supply of highly skilled talent, and regulatory changes.

That's according to Garner analysts who predict that this year alone, security spend is set to rise 12 per cent from $101.54bn to $114.15bn

Siddharth Deshpande, research director at Gartner said: "Security managers aspire to help their organisations use their technology platforms to become more competitive and contribute to the growth of the company.

"Persistent skills shortages and regulatory changes like the GDPR in Europe are driving continued growth in the security services market."

The segment that will rake in the biggest bucks is security services, which are expected to account for ten per cent of IT security expenditure.

Gartner added that highly publicised data breaches, have reinforced the need to view protecting sensitive data and IT systems as a vital business investment.

"Security and risk management has to be a critical part of any digital business initiative," Deshpande said.

Identity and Access Management, Identity Governance and Administration, and Data Loss Prevention will all be impacted by the large rise in demand.

The second and third biggest security segment earners are expected to be infrastructure protection and network protection systems.