Global spending on cloud security to reach $7b by 2016, study says

NEW YORK—Global spending on security by small and medium businesses is expected to experience a compounded annual growth rate of more than 10 percent between 2011 and 2016, ultimately reaching more than $32 billion, according to preliminary numbers from a soon-to-be-released study by Access Markets International (AMI).

Spending on cloud security services by small and medium businesses (SMBs), which AMI defines as companies with fewer than 1,000 employees, is expected to increase significantly during the next four years, according to the 2012 Global SMB Security Market Assessment. SMBs currently spend roughly $3.3 billion on cloud security services, which accounts for nearly 17 percent of total spending, according to a news release from AMI. Spending is expected to grow to $7.7 billion, or 24 percent of total spending, by 2016, the company says.

The drivers of the growth in spending on cloud security services will be the proliferation of mobile devices in the workplace and economic conditions and budget restraints.

“Security is a complex issue with rapidly changing permutations,” Hugh Gibbs, AMI's vice president of research for Europe, the Middle East and Asia, and the report's author, said in a statement. “Widespread lack of technical resources and expertise is leading to an increasing desire to outsource the problem amongst small and medium businesses."