Adam Hils

With colleague Ruggero Contu, I’ve written a “buying behavior” note hased on a survey administered to security professionals from midsize companies in Western Europe (Italy, Germany, France),  and BRIC nations (Brazil Russia, India and China). This study compares the two groups’ tendencies, and contrasts them with large enterprise behaviors.

Make no mistake: Midsize organizations do security differently than the big guys do, and tendencies (and sophistication levels) differ across geographies. Witness the following “key findings” from the research:

• Western European midsize companies have had higher security budgets in 2009 than BRIC organizations.
• BRIC countries show a propensity to invest more on hardware security products but less on staffing.
• Suite products and single-vendor reliance continue to be important to midsize companies. Outsourcing is expected to grow. Smaller organizations are less likely than their large enterprise counterparts to take a “best-of-breed” approach to security.
• Data security and privacy and infrastructure protection — not regulatory compliance — are still the primary drivers of midsize IT security spending.
• Midsize companies make more purchases through indirect channels than enterprises, buying directly from vendors less frequently.
• Because of limited security staff and granular senior-level budget control, midsize business leaders — more than IT professionals — drive and influence security purchasing decisions. Among the smaller BRIC companies, about two-thirds (66%) had the board of directors or the involved in IT security policy decision making, compared to 54% of their larger counterparts. Among European midsize respondents, 52% had these senior managers involved, versus 37% of larger companies.
• Symantec is the most-popular provider of MSS and security tools, but local players play a significant part.

This report provides a breakdown of respondents’ security budgets (including spending buckets) for 2009, and projected change for 2010; spending drivers; legislative/regulatory influences; organizational budget/spending decision makers; and preferred solution form factors, channels, and vendors.

We also provide advice to vendors looking to serve the midsize market.

The report is available here to Gartner customers.