G
Gartner, a world-leading research and
advisory company, has forecasted
worldwide security and risk management
spending growth to slow but remain
positive in 2020.
Worldwide spending on information
security and risk management
technology and services will continue to
grow through 2020, although at a lower
rate than previously forecast, according
to Gartner.
FEATURE
was a push to get users as secure as
possible, with remote offices being the
new norm in a lot of cases.”
Koutroumbas said the situation is still
fluid and the next few months combined
with the government responses will
be good indicators of what else can/
should be done. However, he believes
that the majority of end-user businesses
are still reeling and in uncertain waters
for this year.
Nick Koutroumbas, Channel Account
Manager EMEA at ZIX
Information security spending is
expected to grow 2.4% to reach
US$123.8 billion in 2020. This is down
from the 8.7% growth Gartner projected
in its December 2019 forecast update.
The Coronavirus pandemic is driving
short-term demand in areas such
as cloud adoption, remote worker
technologies and cost saving measures.
Nick Koutroumbas, Channel Account
Manager EMEA at ZIX, believes we
are starting to see the fallout and tail
end of events unfold. “Our MSPs in
the UK, from what I have observed,
have adapted well to the situation;
remote work and furloughs. Some have
slimmed down their operations but kept
business going at a higher pace than
usual. The lack of commutes means
there is more uptime for team members
(on average) and this is also reflected
with end-users working remotely.
“The key goal for MSPs is to retain
customers, but this is sometimes out
of their hands as the fallout affects
every business sector and company
differently,” said Koutroumbas. “A lot
of short-term furlough licenses and
adapting clients offers new budgetary
limitations. MS free licenses help
keep users working, but add-on cloud
services are usually a budget item that is
‘optional’ now with most businesses. Our
platform and support helped our MSPs
to pivot on some of their end-users and
retain the businesses to a degree (adjust
licenses or restructure offerings). Also,
our incentives programme has been
helpful in giving MSPs some breathing
room on major commitments.”
Koutroumbas said that investments into
having more security has happened. “It
According to Anna Collard, MD at
KnowBe4 Africa, The World Bank
predicts a global GDP contraction of 5.2%
in 2020. “Many organisations thus are
focusing on cost savings and cancelling
or postponing planned investments,” said
Collard. “Facilities and general capex
are most affected, but it has also had an
impact on IT and technology spend. For
example, organisations severely affected
by the lockdown, such as those in the
brick and mortar retail and hospitality
industries, are cancelling or defaulting on
some of their IT supplier’s contracts to
pay staff salaries.”
Information
security spending
is expected to
grow 2.4% to reach
US$123.8 billion
in 2020.
Collard continued: “However, there is
some silver lining. According to a June
PWC survey across 989 CFOs from
23 countries, 52% of the respondents
reported that they will make remote work
a permanent option. CFOs in Africa
(67%) are more likely than the global
average to accelerate automation. A
total of 75% of the CFOs surveyed say
the increased flexibility and resiliency
developed during the crisis will make their
organisation stronger over the long term.
Cybersecurity is one of the area’s least
affected by cost saving exercises, noted
at just 3% according to the report.”
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