Security has become a major focus for IT leaders in 2021, and companies are now increasing their spending to secure the enterprise. This is because the threat landscape is evolving with increased reliance on the cloud, a greater diversity in the IT service portfolio, more employees working from home, and a more burdensome regulatory environment. The recent ransomware attack on Colonial Pipeline is just one example of the increasing threats. To combat these threats, organizations are turning to IT security outsourcing firms to handle higher-value, end-to-end security tasks.
Figure 2 from our full report, IT Security Outsourcing Trends and Customer Experience, shows that IT security is outsourced, entirely or in part, by 38% of IT organizations, up from 36% last year. The most recent peak was 2017, when 43% of organizations outsourced IT security work.
The reasons for the increase are numerous. We explore them in our full report. They include:
Companies are simply spending a larger percentage of their budget on securing the enterprise, whether that is in-house or through outsourcing. The number and variety of threats continues to rise, and with it, security spending.
Highly regulated industries such as banking, healthcare, and life sciences have higher compliance needs, and some industries, such as retail, are seeing increased expectations for privacy.
Cross-Border Commerce, Digital Currencies, and the Future of Money
IT Vendor Governance the Key to Realizing Value from IT Supplier Relationships
An Innovator’s Story: Creating a Business for Lasting Success
Leveraging Service Providers to Manage Network Complexity
IT Spending as a Percentage of Revenue by Industry
IT Spending in the Insurance Industry
IT Spending in the Retail Industry