India security market to reach $1.12 billion in 2016, up 10.6%

Enterprise security spending (hardware, software and services) in India is on pace to reach $1.12 billion in 2016, up 10.6 percent from $1.01 billion in 2015, according to Gartner.

Security spending will continue to grow in 2017 when revenue is projected to reach $1.24 billion. Security services (that includes consulting, implementation, support and managed security services) revenue accounted for 61 per cent of this total revenue in 2015, and this proportion will increase to 66 percent by 2020.

"The strong growth in the security services market will be primarily because customers need external services to transform their security posture in the digital business era. Security services are typically categorized as either implementation, consulting or security outsourcing services, and many providers are beginning to offer all three categories to address customer requirements," Siddharth Deshpande, principal research analyst, Gartner.

"In 2016, we are seeing large enterprises increase their security budgets to enhance their security program, and several midmarket and enterprise organizations creating new space for security spending as part of their technology budget," said Deshpande.

Key security initiatives for a majority of organizations in 2016 include: security operations, incident response network and data center security, identity governance and administration, mobile and cloud security governance, advanced threat defense, application security, security policy and program development and governance, risk and compliance (GRC).

Mature organizations that have begun the journey towards detection and response approaches are now looking to focus on advanced capabilities around security operations and incident response. Several organizations in India are now realizing that a purely technology centric approach to their security strategy will not suffice. As a result many organizations are beginning to pay equal emphasis on the people and process elements. In the context of digital business, the people and process elements of security and risk management are becoming extremely important.

Siddharth Deshpande said, "Digital business moves at a faster pace than traditional business, and traditional security approaches designed for maximum control will no longer work in the new era of digital innovation. Risk and security leaders must understand the risks associated with business unit innovation, and balance the imperative to protect the enterprise with the need to adopt innovative technology approaches."