Security world moving more to subcription model
Vendors are being advised to make sure that the channel can support that shift away from traditional ways of purchasing security hardware and software
The cyber security world is changing with customers looking to increasingly buy cloud-based subscription services putting vendors under pressure to ensure their channel partners are in a position to meet that changing demand.
Although the vast majority of cyber security sales remain traditionally delivered the balance is shifting and market watcher Canalys expects it to accelerate over the next couple of years.
The analyst house has revealed that cyber security spending topped $10bn for the first time in the fourth quarter of last year as customers looked to protect data and endpoints from an ever rising number of malicious threats. The expectation is that by 2020 $42bn will be spent annually worldwide on products and services.
The outlook also has the balance between traditional and emerging deployment models changing with it hitting 70/30 in the next two years. Last year the well-worn approaches to selling hardware and software accounted for 82% of the revenues with the remaining 18% including subscriptions to Security as a Service offerings, virtual appliances and procurement through public cloud marketplaces.
“Over the next two years, the transition in cyber security deployment models will accelerate. Customers are changing their IT buying behavior, with the adoption of public cloud, and flexible consumption and subscription services,” said Canalys principal analyst Matthew Ball.
“Vendors will have to establish a diverse range of business models to support this transition, as different products suit different types of deployments. The key challenge to date for many has been making the new models more channel-centric, and integrating them with existing partner programs, especially customer transactions via cloud marketplaces,” he added “This has recently been addressed by some cloud marketplaces, allowing partners to offer customized deals and pricing direct to customers, while tracking deal registration and rebates.”
Vendors are already making changes with many making sure that they have solutions available in the major cloud marketplaces and have programmes in place to support and attract more managed security service providers.
In terms of the vendor market share rankings, Canalys found that Cisco still sits on top of the pile, followed by Palo Alto Networks, then Check Point, Fortinet, IBM and Symantec all holding the same percentage.
