Managed security services to climb as IT costs rise

As IT departments continue to struggle to meet the growing demand for their services with fewer people and shrinking budgets, the idea of outsourcing more of their security functions is becoming more and more attractive. And analysts and industry observers say that trend is likely to continue for the next several years as managed security services offerings mature and enterprises grow more comfortable with the concept.

Security vendors have been offering various managed services for nearly 10 years, including vulnerability scanning, network security monitoring, managed IDS and managed firewall services. Those offerings have done well in certain segments of the market, but many enterprises still are hesitant to give a third party that much control of their security operations. But today's economic realities are putting off-premises services, including software-as-a-service products, on the short list for security managers.

Several companies, including HP, IBM and Webroot Software Inc., have begun to offer some of their security products as SaaS options. Webroot, of Boulder, Colo., this week introduced its new Web Security SaaS product, a comprehensive Internet security offering that includes content control, URL filtering, threat protection and other features. The service routes all of a customer's Web traffic through Webroot's servers and scours the requests for malicious content. HP, meanwhile, recently dipped its toe into the SaaS world as well with an on-demand version of its Assessment Management Platform. IBM has had an on-demand version of its AppScan Enterprise Edition product available for some time.