Smaller security software providers outperform larger rivals in 2008

Mumbai: The global security software market revenue rose 18.6 per cent to $13.5 billion in 2008 in over the 2007 revenue of $11.3 billion, says technology resarch firm Gartner, Inc.

Gartner analysts said there was an increasing demand for appliance-based products, particularly within certain segments such as, e-mail security and secure web gateway markets.

''In 2008, the security market did not show any noticeable impact from the economic downturn,'' said Ruggero Contu, principal research analyst at Gartner. ''A double-digit growth in a challenging economic climate shows that security remains a key priority for CIOs and IT security leaders.''

Globally, data security and privacy, along with the need to protect IT infrastructure from the ever increasing sophisticated and targeted attacks, are among the key drivers fuelling the growth of IT security software spending. For organisations operating in North America and Western Europe, compliance was among the major drivers.

The combined top five vendors' market share is gradually falling in favour of smaller players, a sign that security remains a dynamic market where smaller players, new entrants and specialist vendors provide an effective challenge to the established leaders.

Symantec continued to be the market leader, as it accounted for 22 per cent of worldwide security software in 2008 (see Table 1). However, the company's market share was down from 2007 when it accounted for 24.4 per cent of the market. McAfee experienced the strongest growth rate among the top five vendors, as its revenue increased 20.5 per cent in 2008.