China looks set to overtake Australia as the largest security solutions market in Asia/Pacific (Ex Japan), IDC says

According to IDC's latest report “Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) IT Security Solutions 2007 - 2011 Forecast and Analysis” (Doc#AP3271IDP), Australia accounted for about 26% of the total security solutions revenues in Asia/Pacific (Excluding Japan) (APEJ) in 2006, while China accounted for about 22%. By 2011, China is expected to contribute 30% of the security solutions market by revenue in the region, compared to 21% that is forecasted to come from Australia. The 5 countries to top the APEJ IT security solutions market in terms of vendor revenues in 2011 are expected to be China, Australia, Korea, India and New Zealand, in descending order (see figure below).

"The potential in China's security solutions market is underpinned by the large number of companies that are starting to build out their IT infrastructure and the rapidly increasing broadband internet adoption in the country. On the other hand, Australia is still expected to grow at a very respectable 10.4% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in the forecast period. By 2011, IDC expects the APEJ IT security solutions market to reach US$5.9 billion. This represents a vibrant 15.5% CAGR over the same period," says Willie Low, Senior Market Analyst of IDC's Asia/Pacific Infrastructure Software Research.

IDC observed that the security solutions ecosystem has become a lot more complex compared to a couple of years ago. The competitive landscape is now broader and includes players ranging from niche local security solutions specialists to large global security vendors, as well as infrastructure players with a significant security solutions play. Local players are looking to expand regionally or even globally, while global players are looking for channel partners to help them gain better local traction.

IDC also notes the emergence of "3S" (Security, Storage and System Management) vendors, who have added another dimension to the security solutions ecosystem. These players have a wide product portfolio covering security, storage and system management as they aim to be a one-stop shop that can meet all enterprises’ IT needs. These players tend to be large infrastructure vendors, some of whom have made strategic acquisitions of security solutions vendors to beef up their security capabilities.

On the demand-side, IDC's research shows that security of data and systems remains the most important issue that organizations face today. Ubiquitous use of IT for daily work, the increasing reliance of the business operations on IT, and the quickening pace of rolling out new applications and systems, all add to the risk of security breaches. These factors are driving enterprises to continue investing in IT security. To this end, IDC recommends buyers to take the data-centric approach when designing the security framework, as information assets are often the crown jewels of an organization.

One of the key impediments to buying security solutions is the reactive rather than proactive mindsets. While working towards creating an understanding of improved security governance, IDC recommends that IT vendors educate end-users on the merits of being proactive, rather than reactive. While there is a constant need to justify returns on investment, security is something that is difficult to quantify when nothing happens. Ironically, failure to secure and subsequent losses to the organization is something that can be better articulated.

IDC