Heavy Investments in IT security rev up security software and appliances market, in the region says IDC

According to a recent study from IDC, spending on security software and appliances should grow by 37.4% this year to reach nearly $250m.

In 2006, investment in IT security software and appliances in the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar) shot up by almost 60% year-on-year to reach nearly $180 million.

IDC projects that over the next five years, the security software and appliances market in the Persian Gulf region will grow at an average annual rate of 23%.

'The IT security market benefits heavily from investments in basic infrastructure by companies across the region, which inevitably includes threat management and secure content management technologies,' said Vinay Nair, Senior Analyst, IDC MEA.

'But it doesn't end there. The rapidly growing consumer banking sector has a cartload of compliance rules that require a variety of security solutions and a large number of firms - particularly in the UAE - are making increasingly sophisticated investments in information leakage detection & prevention technology.'

Saudi Arabia is the largest market for security appliances and software in the region, comprising 41.0% share of the total market in 2006. In 2007, it is expected to skyrocket by almost 45% year-on-year. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) was the second largest source of security expenditure in the region last year, with 31.2% share. The UAE market is predicted grow a little slower than the Saudi Arabian market, but still by an impressive 36.6%. The other Gulf Cooperation Council countries made up the remaining 27.8% share in 2006. The combined markets of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar should expand by 27.23% year-on-year in 2007.

Threat Management made up the bulk of the security software market in the Gulf States in 2006, accounting for 56.4% of total spending. This segment grew 61.2% year-on-year as companies build perimeter protection for their new network infrastructure. Secure Content Management (SCM) was the second largest segment, with 24.0% share. The Security and Vulnerability Management segment represented 11.4% of the total market in 2006, having almost doubled as compared to the previous year.

The three leading vendors on the Persian Gulf IT security market were Cisco, Juniper, and Symantec. Their combined market share reached nearly 49% of total revenue in 2006. On the customer side, the government was the biggest spender on IT security solutions in the Gulf States in 2006 and comprised 26.9% share of the market. The second largest vertical was the telecommunications sector with 22.6% share, followed by finance (21.2%).

IDC's Gulf States Security Software and Appliances 2007-2011 Forecast and 2006 Vendor Shares (IDC #ZSE1P) presents the security software and appliance market in the Gulf States (Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, and Qatar) or 2006 and forecasts expenditure on security software and appliances through 2011.

The study contains market size, vendor market shares, and forecasts for five discrete market categories. It also ranks the major security software providers by their 2006 revenue, and includes a profile of their activities and presence in individual country and vertical markets.