ISG Provider Lens™ report finds some resistance to the cost of service providers, but a growing interest in many cybersecurity solutions
With data and IT infrastructure continuously exposed to new cyber threats, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises in Switzerland are turning to cybersecurity service providers to keep their IT security systems updated and prevent data loss, according to a new report published today by Information Services Group (ISG) (Nasdaq: III), a leading global technology research and advisory firm.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Cyber Security – Solutions & Services Report for Switzerland finds interest in several cybersecurity services growing in the country, even as IT managers struggle to justify IT security investments to top executives.
“Unlike other IT projects, it is not always possible to prove the return on investment for cybersecurity services, nor it is easy to quantify the risk,” said Peter Bertschin, managing director, ISG Switzerland. “At some companies, security measures remain a low priority.”
Nevertheless, some Swiss enterprises are looking to service providers to help improve their cybersecurity readiness, the report says. The COVID-19 pandemic has created new security challenges for Swiss companies with the increased use of home offices and new external connections from employees.
The report finds growing interest in identity and access management among Swiss companies, due to the increasing number of digitization projects in the country. This trend contributes to the need to protect not only users and their identities but also machines and other internal resources.
In Switzerland, there is a shift from on-premises identity and access management operations to the cloud, the report adds. Most providers have adapted to this transformation and offer both on-premises and cloud operations. Cloud-only providers are also becoming common.
Interest in data loss prevention solutions has also increased significantly in recent years, the report says. The increasing use of personal devices in business settings poses a challenge to enterprises, as do big data, social business, and cloud computing initiatives.
Swiss companies are increasingly relying on service providers to keep their IT security systems updated and to train users about security risks, the report says. IT security projects are often complex, and many service providers offer a wide range of technical security services from a single source. In many cases, service providers also have partnerships with well-known technology providers and have employees with numerous cybersecurity certifications.
The report also sees a rise in demand for managed security services among Swiss enterprises. A scarcity of qualified resources, the increasing number of breaches, and the constant change in the type of attacks are driving this demand. Large and mid-sized Swiss companies prefer security operations centers based in the country. For mid-tier companies, having access to service professionals with local language skills is important for security operations centers.
The 2020 ISG Provider Lens™ Cyber Security – Solutions & Services Report for Switzerland evaluates the capabilities of 73 providers across five quadrants: Identity & Access Management, Data Leakage/Loss Prevention, Technical Security Services, Strategic Security Services and Managed Security Services.
The report names IBM as a leader in all five quadrants and Atos as a leader in four. Accenture, Capgemini, and Swisscom are named as leaders in three quadrants, and Avectris, Bechtle, Broadcom, DXC Technology, HCL, Microsoft, and T-Systems are named as leaders in two. Axians, Dell/RSA, Deloitte, DriveLock, Ergon, EY, Forcepoint, KPMG, Matrix42, McAfee, MobileIron, NEVIS, Okta, Orange Cyberdefense, PwC, Trend Micro and United Security Providers are all named as leaders in one quadrant.
