Infotech Lead India: SMBs in India are now embracing network security solutions more rapidly to secure their businesses from threats. SMBs have spent nearly $45 million in 2012 on Network Security Appliances including Unified Threat Management (UTM), network firewalls and VPN solutions.
According to a study titled ‘2013 India Network Security Appliance Market Landscape’ conducted by AMI-Partners, the network security market for India small and medium businesses shows a positive growth trend in the immediate future.
The current spending share of SMBs in the market does not lag far behind that of large enterprises. The demand for IT security is seen to be the major growth driver in the network security market for India SMBs.
Emerging wireless LAN-based technologies such as 3G, WiMAX, and Wi-Fi hotspots enhance the need for securing the data residing on networks.
Somnath Das, manager, research at AMI, noted that larger Indian SMBs are now transmitting more critical applications over their networks for greater availability throughout the organization.
The shift towards convergence has also contributed to the strong adoption of network security solutions and enhanced the security appliances market.
AMI’s extensive research had special focus on Unified Threat Management as a main component of the security appliances market which promises rich future possibilities. A typical SMB can obtain enterprise level network protection and rapidly adapt itself to reduce the adverse effects of newly-evolving threats emanating from sources such as Web 2.0, VoIP, streaming media, IM, P2P, etc., by adopting UTMs. UTM also offers lower TCO – a benefit that is particularly appealing to SMBs.
India SMBs currently contribute nearly one third of the UTM market revenue of all India businesses. Its growth has been unaffected by the uncertain economic climate. It is predicted that the India SMB UTM market will continue to gain traction in the next two to three years with double-digit annual growth rates predicted, according to Das.
AMI revealed that India SMB users prefer a multi-functional “all-in-one-box” type of security application packed with features such as end-point security, secure web and mail gateway that can be easily managed.
Only a little over a quarter of India SMBs employ a full-time, dedicated internal IT professional. The lack of internal IT management infrastructure makes SMBs look for hassle free, end-to-end solutions.
Almost all vendors are eager to tap to this lucrative market segment with innovative offerings, combinations of models with multiple features and lower prices. Even vendors who are strongly established in the enterprise segment want a piece of the pie and have introduced products aimed at customers with less than 25 users.
Local players also offer products developed after strong research and development to match global standards.
