Sunny Side Up

Governments across the Asia-Pacific region are launching ambitious

e-government initiatives, using electronic technologies to improve both internal

operations and public service delivery. This is part of IDC’s recently

released ‘Asia-Pacific e-government strategies’ report aimed at examining

the impact of e-government initiatives in the region. According to its 2001-2003

IDC forecast, spending on e-government initiatives will claim a growing portion

of public sector IT spending in the years ahead.

Explains Lisa Shishido, senior analyst, e-business and e-government, IDC

Australia, ‘‘E-governance is a key priority for many governments and the

spending is relatively stable, even in times of economic hardship. This creates

major opportunities for IT vendors and service providers as the public sector

seeks advice, products, services and partnerships in implementing e-government

projects."

According to the report, while the governments in the Asia-Pacific region are

still in the primary stages of e-governance, the sophistication of their

services and systems will grow and new opportunities will emerge as they

progress along the e-governance maturity curve. The report also suggests that

there is growing realization amongst governments in the region that by adopting

technology they can reap the same rewards as e-business. These rewards include

more efficient business processes, improved public services and cost savings.

Amongst the five governments profiled–Australia, China, Hong Kong, Korea and

Singapore–the report suggests that e-government spending will grow the fastest

in China, at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of nearly 40%.

US gung-ho on managed security services



While there is no denying that the US is going gung-ho about managed

security services, the most apparent opportunities for managed security service

providers (MSSPs) are within the small to medium-sized business market, where

customers have strong security needs, but limited information security skills

and resources. However, service providers must overcome issues such as the lack

of security awareness within an organization’s executive management and the

build-versus-buy scenario.

According to another IDC report ‘Reality or Illusion: Demystifying the

Managed Security Services Market’, the vendors not only need to educate

existing and potential customers, but also have an in-depth understanding of the

target market. These are two of the elements that would be crucial for both the

vendors seeking to introduce new offerings or those building upon their existing

business strategy in the managed security services market.

Explains Allan Carey, senior analyst, information security services research

service, IDC, ‘‘The managed security services market is being driven

primarily by resource constraints to capital and security expertise, as well as

the growing complexity of networks and rogue access points, which exponentially

increase exposure to vulnerabilities and threats.’’ According to Carey,

these factors combined are affecting the way organizations approach risk

mitigation. ‘‘Customers want information security solutions to seamlessly

integrate into the network, ensure scalability, and provide a measurable return

on investment,’’ he adds.

The IDC report also predicts that the United States market for managed

security services will grow from the $720 million figure in 2000 and touch $2.2

billion mark in 2005–a combined annual growth rate of 25.4%.

SHUBHENDU PARTH in New Delhi