![](https://www.computerweekly.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero Images/privacy-data-security-fotolia_searchsitetablet_520X173.jpg)
ar130405 - Fotolia
Privacy concerns driving security spending
Forecasts of what will happen with worldwide spending on security over the next couple of years means those developing a MSSP approach should be in a strong position
Those resellers operating in the security channel should be encouraged to hear from Gartner that worldwide spending on products and services in that market will increase by 8.7% next year.
The analyst house is forecasting spending will hit $114bn this year, which represents a 12.4% increase, and that the momentum will continue into 2019.
There are several reasons for the ongoing growth, with GDPR among them, as customers continue to get on top of the European data protection regulations.
"Persisting skills shortages and regulatory changes like the EU’s GDPR are driving continued growth in the security services market," said Siddharth Deshpande, research director at Gartner.
"Security leaders are striving to help their organizations securely use technology platforms to become more competitive and drive growth for the business," he added.
Gartner has predicted that at least 30% of organisations will spend on GDPR related consulting and implementation services next year.
Along with established spending on alleviating risk, reacting to the business needs and industry changes there are signs that privacy is going to become major area of concern.
Philippe Ortodoro, VP EMEA Channel Sales, TrustArc, recently penned a piece for MicroScope that highlighted the need for more privacy tools and talked about the next couple of years as being strong ones for those that could deliver those services.
"In the next two years the biggest growth area for the channel will be ensuring small and medium businesses (SMBs) can meet privacy regulations," he stated.
"Security and risk management has to be a critical part of any digital business initiative," added Deshpande.
Gartner is expecting 40% of firms to spend on risk management and privacy concerns, with digital transformation projects increasing the need for support, over the next two years.
The other takeaway for resellers is that by 2020 the analyst house expects services to account for half of security software delivery.
"On-premises deployments are still the most popular, but cloud-delivered security is becoming the preferred delivery model for a number of technologies," said Deshpande.