To drive the market, telcos need to offer enterprises SaaS-based solutions in various deployment scenarios
ABI Research predicts demand for secure software and services in the enterprise sector will mean the 5G network security market will be worth $21 billion by 2027. In the last few years, various macroeconomic factors have slowed growth in the 5G enterprise sector, including network security.
Michela Menting, Senior Research Director at ABI Research, noted that the outlook for global economic recovery still looks sluggish but on the upside, security requirements have been clarified and are being worked on in standards bodies and industry consortia. Also, the market for secure software and services is becoming better defined.
Menting said in a statement, “Network equipment operators and cybersecurity vendors are marketing advanced XDR [extended detection and response – a Software-as-a-Service or SaaS tool] and network security solutions, all targeted at the telcos who are…positioning enterprise security solutions for 5G deployments”.
Dedicated solutions
According to ABI’s new study, private networks are also seeing increasing demand for dedicated security solutions at the enterprise level. Security vendors are working toward a two-fold goal: enabling interoperability with and integration of established network security products into 5G networks; and creating customised security solutions for 5G networks.
“While some of these projects will take time to get up and running, initial trials with existing cybersecurity vendors are consolidating a nascent network security market for 5G,” says Menting.
“Many solutions are focused on leveraging software-based technologies such as virtualized next-gen firewalls powered by machine learning, endpoint security, certificate lifecycle management, and containerization for cloud workloads into Security Orchestration Automation and Response and Extended Detection and Response offerings.”
Making money
Once the telcos put these solutions in place, the idea is to offer them as customisable service offerings for enterprises in various deployment scenarios. They include public, private and hybrid, as well as through slices. This is the primary driver for the 5G network security market, and it is expected to gain enterprises’ trust and spur the adoption of 5G networks.
These findings are from ABI Research’s 5G Network Security Revenue market data report.