Asian buyers set for security spending spree to catch up on shabby strategies

China already growing even faster than 13% regional acceleration

Asian businesses are set for a security spending spree, according to analyst firm IDC.

The firm's new Worldwide Semiannual Security Spending Guide for 2021 has tipped the APAC region to spend US$23.1bn on security products and services in 2021, an increase of 12.6 per cent. Things are only getting better for vendors, as the analyst predicts five-year compound annual growth rate of 13.3 per cent over the period 2019-24, with spend in the last year totalling US$35bn.

Simon Piff, IDC’s APAC veep for trust, security, and blockchain research, suggested local businesses are playing security catch-up.

“2020 defined the importance of digital for everyone globally, but it also highlighted shortcomings in security strategies,” he said. “While leading organizations are starting to adopt a more platform-based approach, the majority are still buying point-solutions to address specific concerns. This majority needs to change their mindset and invest more strategically into their security architectures.”

Because many orgs lack strategic skills, services providers will cash in. Managed services providers should do well: IDC tips them to score 40 per cent of all security services spending.

China will outpace the rest of Asia. IDC says it will account for 40 per cent of security spending over its forecast period and deliver a five-year compound annual growth rate of 16.8 percent. Telecoms outfits and government will drive spend in China. The Middle Kingdom is already soaring, with IDC finding H2 2020 security spend jumped 24.3 per cent compared to H2 2019.

Across the region, businesses with over 500 staff will account for two thirds of spending. Smaller organisations will still spend $5bn between them, but of course they're even less likely to have a strategic plan than larger organisations.

Fingers crossed those managed services providers do a good job, then. ®