Enterprise security market set for strong growth

The enterprise security market saw Q1 year-on-year growth of 15.2 per cent

The global enterprise security market will grow by 13.8 per cent in 2010 as budgets return and companies update systems, according to Canalys.

The analyst firm said that strong year-on-year growth of 15.2 per cent in the first quarter underlined returning industry confidence, and that the value of the security market will reach $15bn (£9.8bn) by the end of the year.

Europe will account for 33.6 per cent of this growth, at around $5bn (£3.5bn), while North America will remain top with 46.4 per cent market share, equating to $6.96bn (£4.53bn) in sales.

Canalys expects infrastructure security appliances to be behind of most of the growth in 2010, generating over 48.7 per cent of total security end-user value.

"Investments have returned to security appliances as many businesses invest in much overdue hardware upgrades," said Canalys analyst Alex Smith.

As a result of this "wave of optimism", growth in the enterprise security market will continue into 2011, reaching end-user sales of $16.3bn (£10.5bn), a rise of 9.2 per cent.

"Growth will be driven by data protection, SSL VPN remote security and IT management devices as customers demand more integration and mobility," said Canalys analyst Nikki Babatola.

"Acquisitions are expected to continue as a result of the demand for end-to-end solutions that are fully integrated and managed by one console. Symantec, McAfee and Check Point kicked off this acquisition trend in the first half of the year."

Babatola added that more vendors will follow suit in order to remain relevant in more advanced security implementations.