FRAMINGHAM, MASS, USA: The US managed security services market was valued at approximately $1.3 billion in 2007, an increase of 19.6 percent over 2006. This figure is expected to increase to $2.8 billion by 2012, representing a compound annual growth rate of 17.2%, a new forecast from IDC reveals.

Irida Xheneti, IDC research analyst, Security Services, said: Among the many dynamics shaping the US managed security services market today, growing security complexity, evolving pace of today's technology and stringent compliance mandates are driving demand and spending for managed security services."

As organisations continue to add more employees, partners, suppliers, and customers, they are faced with the challenges of deploying, implementing and integrating the appropriate technologies to increase the productivity of their employees and enable more efficient collaboration with partners, suppliers, and customers.

IDC's latest study indicates that while new technology initiatives empower organisations for greater growth opportunities, they have also become the source of many IT security vulnerabilities. To protect against any vulnerabilities, organisations are required to keep up with the rapidly evolving and sophisticated threats. For many organisations, security management has become one of the main IT and business challenges.

Given these dynamics, IDC believes that the managed security services market will continue to experience significant growth during the forecast period as a result of the following market developments:

The US managed security services market will continue to experience double-digit growth rates for the next five years due to an increase in security complexity, internal and external pressures, and the increased demand for cost-effective security management solutions.

The managed security services market remains fragmented, with leading contenders including telecommunications companies, systems integrators (SIs), and traditional security product (SPs) vendors. The market will continue to see more merger and acquisition activity in this space as larger, more established SIs and SPs acquire security assets and leverage their existing channels to drive solutions to market.

Services that enable customers to mitigate and manage risk and meet compliance regulations while increasing productivity will continue to be in high demand. The complexity of managing security, the high cost of hiring internal staff, and the shortage of IT security expertise will continue to be core drivers for managed security services spending.

Source: IDC