Mark Finan is the Marketing Manager at Attix5 UK. Founded in South Africa and based in the United Kingdom, Attix5 is the market leader in the development of remote, managed and secure backup and retrieval software. For more information on their software read this article.



2002 has seen the convergence of a number of factors that will be the springboard for the security market in 2003 and, more specifically, the growth of the market for secure backup of critical data. From a marketing perspective, the timing could not be better for the emergence of truly end-to end solutions for critical data protection, backup and recovery.

Market Drivers

As IDC point out in their report Antivirus Software 2002: A Segmentation of the Market, there has been a significant increase in blended security threats designed to get past point-solution security products that will drive the security market next year. For me, there are some other key drivers that centre on two main factors: Corporate Governance and Internet Growth.


Corporate Governance

Gartner group notes that more than two out of five companies do not survive a catastrophic blow to their computer systems and data; also as much as 50% of this corporate data now resides unprotected on distributed systems, e.g. laptops and desktop PCs. During 2002, we have seen the pressures and responsibilities at board level increase exponentially. The Turnbull Report in the UK, and King Report II in South Africa, are examples of how the responsibility for good corporate governance is being placed squarely on the shoulders of company directors. You can run but you cannot hide from the need to evaluate and adopt security solutions that reduce both the company and your own personal risk.

Internet Growth

The increase in availability of higher bandwidth at home and in the office is also a catalyst for growth with increasing data traffic, transactions and storage requirements. Only this month, it was announced that cyber-shopping transactions on the Internet in the UK for the first time exceeded one billion pounds in November 2002. This should not be such a big surprise with cheaper bandwidth enabling 43% of UK homes to have a more positive experience on-line and more people then ever accessing the Internet from work. This growth can only mean a maturing of the market, which will fuel demand for security products and services including the need to secure back up critical data both at home and in the office.