Simply Security - News, Views, and Opinions from Trend Micro

Posted on May 31st, 2012 in Data Privacy, Privacy & Policy by Simply Security | 1 Comment | Tags: Data Privacy, Privacy & Policy

SMB data security spending will exceed $5.6 million by 2015.

As complexities associated with information technology grow, decision-makers are looking to implement protective solutions capable of safeguarding mission-critical applications and information. This trend is especially true among small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs), as they have more to lose and fewer resources to prevent vulnerabilities.

According to a new report by IDC, SMB spending on data security technologies will exceed $5.6 billion in 2015. Overall SMB IT investments are forecast to expand at a compound annual growth rate of up to 6 percent, but spending on security will increase at a much more rapid rate.

"Small and medium-sized businesses have as much need for information technology as much larger companies," IDC security products vice president Charles Kolodgy said. "They also require security because they are a target of cybercriminals. But there are unique issues that prevent SMBs from just buying what large enterprises purchase."

IDC revealed there are six key areas of IT security that SMB decision-makers will focus on. These include messaging, network, web and endpoint security. Additionally, IT leaders will invest more heavily in identity and access management solutions, as well as security and vulnerability management tools.

Cloud computing is also growing in importance for SMBs and, as a result, IT decision-makers are spending more on cloud security solutions when leveraging Software-as-a-Service models.

A separate report by Intermedia and the Small Business Administrations encouraged SMB leaders to keep an eye on where mission-critical information is located in the cloud. Data privacy, security and reliability are important to a company's success and when any of these categories are compromised, organizations can lose their competitive edge over rival firms or jeopardize customer loyalty and sales.

By developing robust service-level agreements and other contract terms with cloud vendors, organizations can ensure the protection of sensitive solutions.

"Leveraging the cloud is a highly efficient and cost-effective way for businesses to access technologies and services that are critical to running a successful business in today's global environment," Intermedia president Michael Gold said. "However, it's important for businesses to understand that all clouds are not created equal – SMBs need to make sure their cloud services are business grade."

Vendors also need to prepare for increased SMB IT spending. By understanding the big picture and comprehending the SMB purchase process, IT security providers will be able to gather more customers through the SMB market, IDC noted.

Data Security News from SimplySecurity.com by Trend Micro