Worldwide IT security spending is set to see healthy growth over the next five years, according to research from channel analyst house Canalys. Through 2017 the IT security market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of seven percent, eventually reaching $30.1 billion in 2017.
Asia Pacific is expected to see the most growth, as much as nine percent this year. North America will grow at a modest but stable five percent. Latin America will see 15 percent growth this year, while EMEA will barely manage three percent.
“The sluggish growth was primarily down to the poor performance of the European market, which was hindered by economic uncertainty,” Canalys analyst Nushin Vaiani said. “We expect an increase in investment as businesses of all sizes begin to gear up for the impending changes to the EU data protection directive. This will work to boost overall growth in the EMEA market to 8% for full-year 2013.”
Canalys estimates that medium-sized businesses will be the biggest growth segment over the next five years, growing by a compound annual rate of seven percent to reach $8.5 billion in 2017. It appears that medium-sized businesses are prioritising more of their IT budgets and resources to ensure their businesses are compliant with various data protection regulations. They also want to give their customers reassurance about the services they provide.
Big outfits don’t really have to bother with that sort of thing, since most customers already assume they are safer than small ones. The assumption is wrong, of course.
