Managed security services - who's top dog?
Verizon, HP, NTT Communications, Computer Sciences Corporation and IBM have all been named as leaders in managed security services in the Asia Pacific market, following extensive research by the International Data Corporation.
IDC today announced the results of its MarketScape report, which comprehensively covers the 16 most prominent players in the Asia Pacific Managed Security Services Market.
Along with the leading vendors mentioned, IDC identified Symantec, BT, Wipro, Dimension Data, HCL, e-Cop, SingTel, Orange Business Services and AT - T as 'major players' in the managed security services space.
The company used 'an elaborate and meticulously structured framework' that assesses how each vendor measures against other players to determine who was leading the pack in the market.
IDC also notes Atos and Telstra are currently positioned as strong 'contenders' in the marketplace.
Overall, the analyst firm concluded that all the identified providers offer a 'comprehensive portfolio' for managed security services.
"Through in-depth interviews with MSSPs and more than 20 interviews with their customers, IDC learned that the MSSPs differ on their key go-to-market capabilities across the region," explains Cathy Huang, research manager, services and cloud research group, IDC Asia/Pacific, who was the lead analyst for this study.
"These capabilities include customer services, sales/distribution structure, pricing alignment, partnership and marketing."
"IDC has also observed the growing prominence of cyber security being featured as a key topic in business conversations," Huang says. "We acknowledge that while CIOs demand security management that is effective, usable and affordable, its integration with their fast-changing IT infrastructure has become a more important requirement.
She adds, "We believe the introduction of advanced managed security services, commonly known as MSS 2.0, is necessary.
"We envision that this new breed of services will use big data analytics and automation technologies to meet the requirements for proactive and dynamic security solutions that would help address CIO's evolving risk and security management challenges," says Huang.
Predicting that the 3rd platform-optimised security technologies and solutions will radically extend the 3rd Platform's capabilities and applications, Huang says IDC identified next-generation security as one of the innovation accelerators in IDC's 2015 ICT predictions. "This MarketScape study has also highlighted the evolution within the managed security services space - advising tech buyer organisations to acknowledge this evolution and identity the right MSSPs according to their specific needs.
The IDC MarketScape evaluation is based on a comprehensive and rigorous framework that highlights the key factors that are expected to be the most significant for aligning the vendor's capability to current needs as well as aligning vendor's strategy to future customer needs.
