End-user spending on security and risk management in the middle East and North Africa (MENA) region is forecast to total $2.8 billion in 2023, an increase of 10.4% from 2022, according to Gartner, Inc.
“Security and risk management leaders in MENA are expected to increase their spending in 2023 mainly because of an increased demand for technologies that secure remote work and hybrid environments, support digitization and cloud migration,” said Shailendra Upadhyay, Principal Research at Gartner.
Gartner analysts are discussing how to stay ahead of expanding scopes of responsibility and increasing threats at the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit, taking place in Dubai through today.
In 2023, cloud security spending is projected to record the highest growth at 19.5%, followed by application security spending, growing at 19% (see Table 1). Cloud security consists of cloud workload protection platforms (CWPPs) and cloud access security broker. CWPPs are products and services that address protection requirements in diverse cloud-native workloads in hybrid and multicloud environments. Their adoption in MENA is growing as organizations respond to the move toward digital transformation and the implementation of cloud applications.
Table 1: Security and Risk Management End-User Spending for All Segments in MENA, 2022-2023 (Millions of U.S. Dollars)
Market |
2022 Spending |
2022 Growth (%) |
2023 Spending |
2023 Growth (%) |
Application Security |
72.7 |
16.3 |
86.5 |
19.0 |
Cloud Security |
81.4 |
15.4 |
97.3 |
19.5 |
Consumer Security Software |
173.1 |
20.5 |
196.4 |
13.5 |
Data Privacy |
17.0 |
13.5 |
20.0 |
17.2 |
Data Security |
47.8 |
4.8 |
51.2 |
7.2 |
Identity Access Management |
223.5 |
7.3 |
243.8 |
9.1 |
Infrastructure Protection |
420.0 |
7.4 |
464.0 |
10.5 |
Integrated Risk Management |
38.6 |
6.8 |
44.0 |
13.9 |
Network Security Equipment |
440.4 |
13.7 |
494.2 |
12.2 |
Security Services |
983.6 |
5.6 |
1,061.0 |
7.9 |
Others |
20.9 |
6.7 |
23.1 |
10.7 |
Total |
2,519.0 |
9.0 |
2,781.5 |
10.4 |
Source: Gartner (February 2023)
In addition, the increased security risks and complexity of operating and managing multiple technologies will drive MENA organizations to spend on cloud security and the share of cloud-native solutions is expected to grow in 2023.
In MENA, security and risk management leaders will increase their spending on technologies such as web application firewalls, access management, endpoint protection platform, secure web gateway to respond to the increased demand of remote workers and ensure secured work-from-home environments.
As zero trust network access (ZTNA) becomes the primary mechanism for user-to-application secure access, spending on ZTNA in the region is expected to grow. In MENA, the increased demand for zero trust protection for remote workers and organizations’ reduced dependence on VPNs for secure access will accelerate spending on ZTNA in 2023.
Security Services to Represent 38% of Total Security Spending in 2023
In 2023, security consulting spending, which is sub-segment of security services, will continue to grow due to higher demand for consulting services related to digital transformation projects, compliance mandates and incident response linked to the rise in ransomware attacks. In addition, managed security services spending growth will come from the increased adoption of high-growth services such as managed detection and response. However, hardware support and implementation services spending are on pace to be flat in 2023.
Gartner clients can read more in the report “Forecast: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide, 2020-2026, 4Q22 Update.”
Learn more about the top priorities for security and risk leaders in 2023 in the complimentary Gartner ebook 2023 Leadership Vision for Security & Risk Management Leaders.
About Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit
The Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit is providing analysis on how to apply the latest techniques to tackle risks in the cloud, operational technology, internet of things, and IT. Follow news coming from the conference on the Gartner Newsroom and on Twitter using #GartnerSEC.
Upcoming dates and locations for the Gartner Security & Risk Management Summit include:
March 28-29 in Sydney
June 5-7 in National Harbor, MD
July 26-28 in Tokyo
September 26-28 in London
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