Cloud-based security services market to reach $9 billion by 2020, Gartner says

In 2017, the cloud-based security services market is forecast to grow by 21 percent, outpacing the overall information security market, $5.9 billion, while the numbers are to reach $9 billion by 2020 worldwide, Gartner estimates.

“The cloud medium is a natural fit for the needs of SMBs. Its ease of deployment and management, pay-as-you-consume pricing and simplified features make this delivery model attractive for organizations that lack staffing resources,” said Ruggero Contu, research director at Gartner. “Cloud-based delivery models will remain a popular choice for security practices, with deployment expanding further to controls, such as cloud-based sandboxing and WAFs.”

As small and medium-sized businesses invest more in their security strategy and are more aware of the risks and challenges in the industry, they will drive growth in cloud-based security services. Businesses understand the importance of securing their online data, while cutting costs by switching from an on-premise deployment to a cloud-based infrastructure.

“Email security, web security and identity and access management remain organizations’ top-three cloud priorities,” Contu said.

While current priorities are email security, web security and identity and access management (IAM), fast growth has been noted in sectors such as threat intelligence enablement, cloud-based malware sandboxes, cloud-based data encryption, endpoint protection management, threat intelligence and web application firewalls.

“The ability to leverage security controls that are delivered, updated and managed through the cloud — and therefore require less time-consuming and costly implementations and maintenance activities — is of significant value to enterprises,” Contu explained.

“On the one hand, new greenfield demand arising from emerging requirements from SMBs is driving growth. On the other hand, new competitive dynamics and alternative pricing practices threaten traditional business models. Overall, one of the main focus areas for providers relates to the shift from owning and selling a product, to selling and supporting ongoing service delivery.”