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Wednesday, 11 July 2007 |
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Managed security services move to centre stage…
Managed security service (MSS) provision is making waves in the industry right now. Propelled to centre stage by the proliferation of threats to the integrity of IT and telecommunication systems, the growing complexity of pre-emptive security solutions, and the increased vulnerability perceived to result from the on-going globalisation of business and commerce, MSS provision is attracting a larger and larger portion of the managed service budgets of enterprises of many different types. According to a new Infonetics Research analysis – ‘Security and Encrypted VPN Services’ – the value of the MSS market will more than double between 2006 and 2010, when it will reach US$12.1bn.
“As security attacks continue to escalate from an increasing number of sources, companies are finding it impossible to handle the entire burden themselves, so they're turning to managed security service providers to help manage the protection of network assets and to provide related services such as remote monitoring and compliance reporting,” observes John Igoe, cto of SilverBack Technologies, a US provider of products and services to manage enterprise applications, systems and networks. SilverBack Technologies recently carried out what is described as an in-depth survey of IT solution providers that offer managed services to their clients, with questions focusing on the areas of security service offerings. According to the company the results reinforced the importance of security services to end customers, with 85% of the providers surveyed offering security services as part of their managed service offerings, and 91% having a security specialist on staff.
Given the potential size of this market segment it’s perhaps unsurprising that, in addition to specialist security and IT vendors, Internet companies and telcos are now beefing up their hosted security repertoires. So far this month Singapore Telecommunications Limited and IBM have announced a strategic MSS collaboration, Verizon Business has completed its acquisition of information security specialist Cybertrust, and Google has a signed a definitive agreement to acquire Postini, a major provider of on-demand communications security and compliance solutions.
The cost of the Google buy is a cool US$625mn. We say: risky business is clearly big business.
John Williamson
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