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IIndian SMBs IT spend on Networking and Security
A recent AMI-Partners report mention that SMBs in India will spend around $134 million this year alone on purchasing IT security solutions only. How much of this market do you plan to garner?
Security threats for enterprises over the years have grown in prominence. Initially hackers used to target individual computers in the ‘80s, then individual networks in the ‘90s and today they are targeting the global infrastructure. The advent of globalization and the rise of mobility have extended individual enterprise networks into a larger global network offering seamless connectivity/mobility. This threat and impact on business has increased the importance of security among enterprises and increased the complexity of security solutions as well. Earlier security was addressed by point product solutions. Today point product solutions are no longer the choice for enterprise to secure their assets, as every point in the network could be susceptible to network attacks, we need a holistic approach towards security.
What about networking spend?
As networks have grown in complexity, so has the need for comprehensive security products/solutions. End user expenditure on security products/solutions was $4.5 Billion in 2003 and is expected to grow 78% till 2007 according to Infonetics Research.
As per the Frost & Sullivan Network Security Market Report, India is the second fastest growing market in the Asia Pacific Region. The total network security market is estimated to be US$ 24.9 million in 2006 and overall spending by SMB segment will see strong growth with tremendous interest in wide range of integrated security appliances. Cisco leads the enterprise network security space with a 50.6 percent market share in India and its Self Defending strategy is expected to further consolidate its market leadership.
The same report also mentions that Indian SMBs are gradually shifting their focus from stand-alone solutions to integrated solutions. Do you have any plan to address these needs?
With about 50-60 per cent of IT spend in the country expected to come from the flourishing SMB segment by 2008 as per NASSCOM report, it is clear that there is a huge market waiting out there to be tapped and companies are focused on addressing it. A couple of key factors that differentiate buying behavior and thereby influence the purchase decisions for small businesses are ROI and ease of use.
Therefore, in order to effectively tap this segment, it is important to develop customized solutions, which offer a cost effective and easy to deploy alternative.
If we look at the SMB segment, we will already notice the prevalent use of cost effective, specialized and dedicated hardware and applications. In Cisco’s case, our Integrated Services Router (ISR), Catalysts Express 500, and ASA - Adaptive Security Appliance are typical examples of SMB class products- combining the benefits of voice, data and video and security, it does away with diverse sets of hardware and literally is a ‘small office’ out of a box. We will continue to innovate, design and develop products and solutions for the growing needs of SMB globally and in India.
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