The data center security market reflects an increasing enterprise need for more stringent data and network protection.
Data is at the heart of enterprise operations, and its governance is regulated by various regional and international mandates. As data centers provide prominent, centralized points of access, they are attractive targets for would-be data thieves.
Data center security focuses on shoring up the security of both physical and digital assets. Typically, data centers contain IT infrastructure, including networked computers and servers used by enterprises to organize, handle, and store vast data repositories. When data centers are successfully attacked, the impact can range from denial of service (DoS) and distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks, the theft of confidential and proprietary information, data alteration, data loss and more.
Data center security today
The global data center security market size was valued at $9.02 billion in 2019 and is expected to reach $20.34 billion by the end of 2027, according to Market Study Report.
According to recent research conducted by IndustryARC, the data center logical security field, viewed on its own outside the larger global data center security market, will reach $10.6 billion by 2025, growing at an estimated CAGR of 9.56% between 2020 and 2025. The firm points to cloud technology as a significant contributing driver.
Cisco predicts that the data center physical security market will grow by $1.73 billion from 2021-2025, a CAGR of 8.41%.
Many enterprises rely on multiple data centers. According to a 2019 global IT survey conducted by Statista, 33 percent of survey respondents said their company operates between three and five “owned or collocated” data centers — seven percent indicated their organizations operate more than 50.
Enterprises have several options available for securing their data centers, including physical security measures and software-based “logical” approaches:
- Establishing data centers within “buffer zones” away from major roads
- Securing data centers against natural disasters like floods and fires
- Maintaining the minimum number of entry points into data center facilities
- Limiting physical and digital access to data assets with biometrics and two-factor authentication
- Security information and event management (SIEM) software platforms
- Safeguarding data most at risk within a siloed network architecture
- Network traffic analysis (NTA) tools, firewalls, and other real- or near-real-time monitoring
Key Growth Drivers
Many factors drive the data center security market, including an overall increased demand for more advanced enterprise security solutions that support regulatory compliance needs. Industry analysts also identify these key drivers as influencing this growing market:
- A growing interest in data center virtualization
- Big data analytics needs
- The trend toward cloud computing and away from on-premises network infrastructure
- Cybersecurity threats
- E-commerce and online shopping platforms
Primary industries
IndustryARC identifies the banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI) sector holding the highest market share in 2019. The firm attributes this sector’s dominance to the high adoption and management of data servers required to protect sensitive financial and regulated data.
Other primary industries within the data center security market include:
- IT
- Telecom and 5G-focused industries
- Cloud providers
- Health care
- Government
Adoption by region
Multiple industry analysts point to the Asia Pacific (APAC) as the dominant region for both physical and logical data center security. Increasing data traffic from countries like China and India is fueling this trend. India has also shifted toward digitization projects like its smart cities initiatives, which require connected solutions that rely on large amounts of data.
IndustryARC expects APAC to grow at the highest rate among regions with high data center adoption due to growth in the communications and BFSI sectors there.
See more: Key Cybersecurity Trends 2021
Data center security use cases
Data center security allows organizations to safely perform any number of network activities. Here are a few examples of use cases that are enhanced by robust data center security measures:
- Securing medical devices
- Remote access to IT tasks like rebooting servers
- Keeping legacy systems in place
- Working within active directory domains safely
- Using data provided via API to applications, kiosks and self-services like ATMs
- Using point of sale (POS) devices
- Bringing an SIEM online and using it to access network assets
- Monitoring file integrity
- Performing data compliance regulatory tasks, including PCI-DSS financial transactions
Data center security providers
These 10 companies represent the majority of the data center security market share.
- Hewlett Packard
- IBM
- Fortinet
- Honeywell International
- Schneider Electric
- McAfee
- Dell
- Robert Bosch
- Check Point Software Technologies
- Cisco